FM Spokesman: Armenia turned into unreliable, frivolous country
By Rashid Shirinov
Armenia has became more isolated during the Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian's eight years in office, and this resulted in Armenia’s turning into an unreliable and frivolous country having no position, said a spokesperson to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.
Spokesman Hikmat Hajiyev made the remark while commenting on Nalbandian’s assumption that by the end of the year at least one country will recognize the so-called regime created in the occupied Azerbaijani lands.
“The Armenian people realize that the military dictatorship in Armenia is rapidly leading the country to disaster and recession,” Hajiyev said in an interview with APA on March 3.
“The illegitimate regime created in the Azerbaijani territories as a result of Armenia’s military aggression has not been and will never be recognized by any state. Instead of staging provocations, Armenia must join the efforts to ensure lasting peace in the region.”
Azerbaijan and Armenia for over two decades have been locked in conflict, which emerged over Armenian territorial claims. Since the 1990s war, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions. The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenian withdrawal, but they have not been enforced to this day.
The spokesman further reiterated that the international community recognizes and supports Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders.
Hajiyev went on to say that Armenia’s illegal “referendum” in Nagorno-Karabakh and provocations at the front line show that Armenia’s involvement in the talks is unserious and imitative. “Armenia’s primary goal is to annex the occupied Azerbaijani lands,” he added.
The spokesman pointed out that on the one hand, Nalbandian is hypocritically talking about his country’s involvement in the OSCE Minsk Group-mediated negotiations, but on the other hand Armenia acts against the efforts of the Minsk Group co-chairs and the whole process of negotiation.
“That’s why there is no progress in the negotiation process. Azerbaijan has repeatedly said that Armenia’s impunity syndrome must be ended and all necessary political and diplomatic pressures must be put on Armenia to urge it to be serious about the negotiations,” Hajiyev concluded.
While the OSCE Minsk Group acted as the only mediator in resolution of the conflict, the occupation of the territory of the sovereign State with its internationally recognized boundaries has been left out of due attention of the international community for years.
Armenia ignores four UN Security Council resolutions on immediate withdrawal from the occupied territory of Azerbaijan, thus keeping tension high in the region.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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