Baku: Yerevan's incompatible statements directed against Armenia
By Vafa Ismayilova
Baku has said that Yerevan's statements, which are incompatible with the new post-war regional reality, are directed against Armenia itself.
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva made the remarks on July 15 while commenting on Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinyan's statement that “there will not be a peace treaty [between Armenia and Azerbaijan] until the issue of the status of Karabakh is resolved”.
“Apparently, Avinyan has forgotten that the elections are over, and now is the time to do real things, not populism. In general, the statements of Armenian officials, which do not coincide with the new reality that has emerged in the region and try to condition peace with any baseless issues, are primarily directed against the country itself,” Abdullayeva said.
She described the normalization of relations based on respect and the observance of international law principles as the best means for achieving regional peace, security, and progress.
"This is the position always demonstrated by Azerbaijan," she added.
Abdullayeva said that after eliminating the factor of occupation of its territories, Azerbaijan stated that it was ready to normalize relations with Armenia, and supported the initiatives of a new cooperation.
"This is because Azerbaijan is a supporter of constructiveness, not destructiveness," Abdullayeva noted.
As far as the references to the so-called status of the Karabakh region are concerned, Azerbaijan has declared its position repeatedly and at a high level, she said.
"In his speech on July 14, the head of our state once again stressed that there is no territorial unit called Nagorno-Karabakh on Azerbaijan's territory. There is no Nagorno-Karabakh, there is Karabakh. On the basis of the decree I [President Aliyev] signed on July 7, the Karabakh economic zone was established. It unites the districts related to Karabakh," the spokesperson said, quoting Aliyev.
Commenting on some foreign representatives' statements similar to those of the Armenian deputy prime minister, Abdullayeva regretted that empty promises and illusions voiced by the said people won’t bring any benefits to Armenia.
"It must realize this and draw lessons from the past and history," she said.
Commenting on the recent escalation in Karabakh and the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, Azerbaijan earlier condemned Armenia's attempts to disrupt fragile peace in the region.
Azerbaijan and Armenia resumed the second war after that latter started firing at Azerbaijani civilians and military positions starting September 27, 2020. The war ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.
The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres, and historic Shusha city. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.
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