Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Issues Strong Response to Pashinyan's Statements

“The baseless accusations made by the Prime Minister of Armenia cast doubt on this country’s aspirations for peace.” This was stated by the head of the press service of Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry, Leyla Abdullayeva, commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements during a speech at the Institute of International Relations in the Netherlands.

“The unfounded accusations directed at Azerbaijan during the speech in the Netherlands, including regarding humanitarian issues, indicate that the Armenian leadership's position is far from sincerity in terms of resolving relations between the two countries,” the Foreign Ministry representative noted. According to her, “the accusations from the Prime Minister of Armenia that Azerbaijan is not taking humanitarian steps and is not returning Armenian detainees are unfounded and unwarranted.” She emphasized that “the Armenian side must finally understand that for peace, not just words are needed, but actions.”

“However, the fact that the Prime Minister of Armenia continues to make baseless accusations against Azerbaijan seriously undermines this country’s desire to act in the name of peace,” Abdullayeva stated.

It should be noted that Pashinyan addressed Azerbaijan's actions yesterday in the Netherlands and mentioned that Azerbaijan is trying to make the process of returning Armenian captives a bargaining chip. According to Pashinyan, the main task of Azerbaijani diplomacy in recent months has been as follows: they go to the EU and the USA and say, ‘Look, Armenia is a pro-Russian country,’ in some cases claiming it has a proxy Russian government, and then afterward they go to Russia and say, ‘Look, Armenia is a pro-Western country, see how they are strengthening relations with the West.’