Baku, March 20, AZERTAC

“We strongly condemn and reject the false and slanderous views expressed against Azerbaijan by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan during the meeting and press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov on March 20, 2023,” said Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada in his commentary on the unfounded views expressed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan during the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and during the press conference.

“Armenia, which fails to completely withdraw its armed forces from the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan contrary to the provisions of the Trilateral Statement dated November 10, 2020, illegally transfers its military personnel to the territory of Azerbaijan, commits continuous military provocations against Azerbaijan, and which utilized the Lachin road contrary to its intended humanitarian purposes to plunder Azerbaijan's natural resources and deploy landmines in Azerbaijan's territories, recently often referring to the aforementioned document, and groundlessly accusing Azerbaijan of violating the Trilateral Statement and derailing the peace process is the ultimate level of hypocrisy.

Armenia, which conducted a mass ethnic cleansing policy and committed acts of genocide against Azerbaijanis accusing Azerbaijan of allegedly blocking the Lachin road and allegedly committing "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide" against citizens of Armenian origin living in the Karabakh region is nothing more than a lie intended to mislead the international community.

Despite Azerbaijan's continuous commitment to the efforts to advance the peace agenda in the region, Armenia, in order to undermine this process and evade its obligations, misleading the international community to cast a shadow over the legitimate protest of Azerbaijani civil society representatives on the Lachin road, and, as we witnessed on March 20, engaging in further provocations while the European Union mission in Armenia was present is unacceptable.

In general, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan's repetition during the press conference of the groundless statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry dated March 18, which demonstrates the continuation of the baseless territorial claims against Azerbaijan, targets the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and grossly interferes in its internal affairs, clearly shows that Armenia has learned neither from history nor the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan against these allegations on March 19.

We call on Armenia to refrain from provocative actions and statements, dangerous rhetoric that undermines the provision of peace and security in the region, and to fulfill its obligations instead of continuing its attempts to groundlessly accuse Azerbaijan and mislead the international community,” Hajizada noted.