Presidential aide: Armenia uses mercenaries in its army

By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijan’s Presidential Aide, Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev has said that Armenia deploys mercenaries from different countries on the front line with Azerbaijan.

Hajiyev said that when these mercenaries are killed in the clashes, Yerevan hides the casualties among them since these people are not registered in the Armenian armed forces.  

Hajiyev also commented on the Armenian leadership’s decision to establish militia groups.

“In recent days, decisions have been made in Armenia to establish military groups consisting of civilians under the guise of volunteers. We consider these decisions as another example of the current demographic crisis in Armenia. This shows that Armenia faces difficulties in the recruitment of the armed forces.”

Hajiyev stressed that the Armenian leadership, like Bolsheviks, wants to create armed units in order to use these units for their deceitful purposes, including in domestic affairs.

Hajiyev said that Armenia deployed mercenaries from the Middle East on the front line during its military provocation in Azerbaijan’s Tovuz region last month.

During the press conference, the presidential aide also commented on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recent statement that there is no military solution to the conflict with Azerbaijan.  

“If the Armenian side claims that there is no military solution to the conflict and has such a desire, then, first of all, the military occupation regime must be ended. Armenian forces must be withdrawn from the all occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which is enshrined in UN Security Council resolutions.”

Hajiyev also said that Armenia is an aggressor state, which was enshrined in the 1974 UN General Assembly documents assessing the act of aggression and the UN Charter. “Therefore, if the Armenian side claims that there is no military solution to the conflict, first of all, it must end the fact of military occupation,” Hajiyev added.

Saying that the Armenian leadership, led by Nikol Pashinyan, was trying to present the events in Tovuz as a "victory", Hikmat Hajiyev noted: “First, the events in Tovuz clearly showed that this is another act of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan. It was a pre-planned military operation. However, Armenia failed to achieve any of its goals. We would like to emphasize once again that Azerbaijan has no military purpose along the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border.”

The presidential aide emphasized that the purpose of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces is to ensure the inviolability of the borders of the country and the security of the Azerbaijani civilian population living near the border. He stressed that in this regard, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces bravely thwarted this provocation committed by Armenia, and the Armenian armed forces were repulsed.

“Today, they continue to hide their losses from the Armenian public. Nikol Pashinyan must explain this military adventure to the Armenian people. The political and military leadership of Armenia directly bears the responsibility for this provocation,” Hajiyev said.

Commenting on Pashinyan’s statement that Armenian-made military products were used during the recent attack against Azerbaijan, Hajiyev said: “Armenia does not have an industry and economy, nor does it have defence industry. This is nothing but an attempt by the Armenian leadership to deceive its people and justify the Tovuz adventure to their people.”

Commenting on Armenia’s military provocation in Tovuz last month, Hajiyev said: "We would like to note once again that the Azerbaijani Army repelled the Armenian armed forces, ensured the security and defence of our country's borders and resolutely prevented the occupation of any territory of Azerbaijan. One of the goals of Armenia in committing this provocation was to divert attention from the harsh socio-economic and political problems in the country.”

Speaking about the Azerbaijani hostages held in Armenian captivity, Hajiyev said: “We still have no information about more than 4,000 Azerbaijani hostages and captives. Armenia also does not cooperate in the framework of negotiations mediated by international organizations. This is an indication of Armenia's hypocritical approach to international law, the Geneva Convention. The so-called trials for Shahbaz Guliyev and Dilgam Asgarov are also apparent.”

“Recently, Armenia often mentions the Geneva Convention. However, Armenia is that country that has grossly violated the Geneva Convention. Speaking about the Geneva Convention, Armenia's threat to Azerbaijan with missile attacks is another example of hypocrisy,” Hajiyev said.
 

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Akbar Mammadov  is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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