Azerbaijani Parliament responds to statement by Armenian speaker
Azerbaijan’s MIlli Majlis (Parliament) has commented on the statement of the speaker of the Armenian parliament, Alen Simonyan, dated November 28, Azernews reports.
“On November 28, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan once again distorted the existing realities in the region and made statements that are far from the mark. Not only does this interview of the speaker of the Armenian parliament clearly demonstrate that the Armenian leadership is queuing up for another ‘absurd statement’, but it is also evidence of their endeavours to be constantly on the radar of their foreign patrons. It is simply impossible to give any other explanation for these last statements,” the Azerbaijani parliament said.
“Simonyan is trying to disguise his “dream” of erasing the fact of the 30-year-long Armenian occupation of the internationally recognised territories of Azerbaijan from memory and removing this dark stain upon the history of Armenia from the agenda of the international community.
It would be good if Simonyan spoke about the future and, while doing so, apologised for the fact that more than 1 million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs were expelled from their native lands due to the ethnic cleansing policy pursued by Armenia, as well as for the Khojaly Genocide and the destruction of 9 towns and hundreds of villages during the occupation.
The statements of the speaker of parliament of monoethnic Armenia, who destroyed hundreds of artefacts of the Azerbaijani historical, cultural, and religious heritage during the occupation, as well as in the territory of Armenia, renamed the monuments and population centres, and wrote a false history regarding Azerbaijan, where different ethnic groups coexist amicably and peacefully and their historical and cultural heritage are protected at the state level, expose his true face.
Simonyan’s primitive reasoning to give a legal tone to the fact that the 7 villages of Gazakh district and of Karki still remain under Armenian occupation and to accuse Azerbaijan of occupation is nothing but a manifestation of an unhealthy mindset.
It is a clear fact how accustomed the Armenian leadership has become to repeating their fictions about Azerbaijan ‘preparing for war’ and 'rejecting the peace negotiations'—fictions aimed at deceiving the international community. We would like to remind Simonyan once again that it was Azerbaijan, after the 44-day war, that initiated the signing of a peace treaty with Armenia based on the principles of international law. Over the past three years, Armenia has been trying to use its political and military provocations to attempt to block the peace process.
Now, there is a historic chance for the establishment of long-term peace in the region. Azerbaijan has repeatedly declared its preparedness for peace with Armenia on the basis of respect for both countries’ territorial integrity and sovereignty. And at such a moment, Armenia is trying to drag out the negotiations by delaying for a long time its response to Azerbaijan’s proposals regarding the text of the peace treaty.
We reiterate that Azerbaijan is an advocate of solid peace in the region and supports the normalisation of relations with Armenia as well as the signing of a peace treaty. We believe that now there are ample opportunities for signing the peace treaty. Therefore, we call on the Armenian side to refrain from such statements that are provocative and far from the truth and make its contribution to peace,” the parliament added.
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