Presidential aide: Armenia legally responsible for recent military provocation
By Ayya Lmahamad
Armenia is responsible for their acts of aggression against Azerbaijan in line with the international law, Presidential Aide Hikmet Hajiyev said during the debates with former diplomatic adviser to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, Arsen Kharatian on the Al Jazeera International Channel on July 17.
Hajiyev stressed that Armenia, using force, has occupied part of the territories of Azerbaijan, while committing bloody ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories.
During the debates, he emphasized that the conflict should be settled gradually, through negotiations, and the first step in this direction should be the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
Furhtermore, he said that Armenian Prime Minister’s controversial statements undermine the negotiation process, noting that the political and legal framework for conflict resolution is defined and based on international law, and relevant UN Security Council resolutions and the Helsinki Final Act.
Hajiyev emphasized that Armenia is hiding behind the ceasefire and is annexing Azerbaijani territories by carrying out illegal actions in occupied territories of Azerbaijan, including policy of illegal settlement.
Commenting on Kharatian’s comments on the establishment of democracy in Armenia, Hajiyev stressed that democracy is the last issue that Armenia should talk about. He added that a revolutionary dictatorship is being established in Armenia; journalists and oppositionists are being arrested. Moreover, Hajiyev noted that a democratic state does not occupy the territory of another state and does not commit bloody ethnic cleansing.
Commenting on Armenia’s ties with Turkey, Hajiyev emphasized that the Armenian Constitution contains territorial claims against Turkey, that in Armenia the propaganda of the “Great Armenia” is carried out on the basis of chauvinism at the state level, and that the young generation is raised up in that spirit. Likewise, Hajiyev stated that Armenia’s new national security strategy was prepared on the basis of principles of racism and chauvinism.
Hajiyev also reminded that the Turkish-Armenian border was shut down in response to Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijan’s Kalbajar region.
During the program, Hajiyev drew attention to the events on the state border in the direction of Tovuz, another provocation and military adventure of Armenia, deliberate attack on civilians by Armenia.
The cross-border fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan started on July 12 with Armenia's firing artillery at Azerbaijan's positions in the direction of Tovuz region.
Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.
The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. However, final peace deal has not been reached yet.
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