Azernews.Az

Provocative and false statements of Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan, who uses "primitive tricks" in his expressions to sully Azerbaijan, cast doubt on his professional skills as a diplomat, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev told Trend news agency while commenting on Nalbandyan's recent statements.

At a joint press conference with UK Minister for Europe David Lidington on Tuesday Nalbandyan expressed concern that Azerbaijan allegedly threatens the security of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azerbaijani region under Armenian occupation where ethnic Armenians are running a self-proclaimed republic.

"A representative of Armenia, on the instructions of whose leadership snipers shoot at innocent people, women and orchestrate terror attacks against children, has no moral right to make empty allegations against Azerbaijan," Abdullayev said.

The Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The two countries fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Armenian armed forces have since occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno Karabakh, defying international calls and UN resolutions. Peace talks, brokered by the United States, Russia and France through the OSCE Minsk Group, have been largely fruitless so far.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on a pullout from Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven surrounding regions.

Abdullayev said that as in the Soviet times, today Azerbaijan is proud of its multi-ethnic culture and tolerance.

In the international arena, Azerbaijan has always been an initiator of events on inter-cultural and inter-ethnic dialogue, Abdullayev said.

"Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has always been a safe place for its multi-ethnic population and for visitors," he said.

According to Abdullayev, after the terrible ethnic cleansing committed by the Armenian leadership, and after expulsion of the people of other nationalities, Armenia became a mono-ethnic country, and that fact speaks for itself.

"What security can be referenced by a minister of a country, whose government constantly reiterates that the Azerbaijanis and Armenians are incompatible and that the genocide in Khojaly [committed by Armenian armed forces in 1992 during the Karabakh war] was a demonstration of what Armenia is ready to do to achieve its goals?" Abdullayev queried.

613 people were killed, including 63 children, 106 women and 70 elderly, during the genocide in Khojaly on February 26, 1992. About 1,000 civilians were disabled in the massacre and 1,275 innocent people were taken hostage, while the fate of 150 remains unknown.