Armenia's Foreign Ministry on Aliyev's Statements

The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs notes that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in his recent statements, has admitted that the claims made regarding the so-called corridor have no relation to the trilateral statement of November 9. In an interview with Armenpress, MFA spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan emphasized that there is only one reference in the statement, regarding the Lachin corridor, which has been unlawfully blocked by Azerbaijan for more than a month.

The MFA spokesperson also stated that Armenia will never agree to the provision of an extraterritorial corridor.

Aliyev stated in an interview with Azerbaijani media that all those who do not wish to live in Nagorno-Karabakh as citizens of Azerbaijan can leave, as the way out is open. How do you comment on this?

With this statement, the president of Azerbaijan inadvertently acknowledges that Azerbaijan has been deliberately keeping 120,000 Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh under blockade for over a month, grossly violating its international obligations under the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, and is intentionally leading them towards a humanitarian disaster. Azerbaijan admits that the ultimate goal of its actions is to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh and deprive the Armenian population of their own homeland.

In this context, we call upon international partners with vested interests to compel Azerbaijan to lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor and save the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh from imminent disaster. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh should not be deprived of their right to have a homeland and to live in their own territory.

In the same interview, Aliyev once again spoke about the so-called 'Zangezur corridor' and admitted that this term is not mentioned in the trilateral statement of November 9. At the same time, he threatened that “the corridor will exist regardless of whether Armenia wants it or not.” What can you say about this?

Armenia has repeatedly stated that it is interested in the opening of all transport and economic infrastructures in the region in accordance with the November 9 statement. We are ready to implement this in the shortest possible time within the framework of national legislation and the agreements reached regarding the respect for the sovereignty of countries and authority over roads. At the same time, Armenia will never agree to the provision of an extraterritorial corridor.

It is encouraging that the leadership of Azerbaijan finally honestly notes that the claims regarding the so-called corridor have no relation to the trilateral statement of November 9. The statement mentions only one corridor—the Lachin corridor, which has been unlawfully blocked by Azerbaijan for more than a month.

The threats to forcibly open a corridor once again clearly demonstrate Azerbaijan's violation of the key principle in international law regarding the non-use of force or the threat of force, as well as the absolute disregard of official Baku for the agreements reached with the involvement of international mediators.

Once again, we must note that the actions of the Azerbaijani leadership, its warlike rhetoric, and maximalist approaches seriously jeopardize the possibility of achieving peace and stability in the South Caucasus.

In the interview, Ilham Aliyev also expressed his dissatisfaction with the possible deployment of a new EU monitoring mission in Armenia.

First of all, we want to emphasize that Armenia highly values the role of the EU mission that concluded on December 19, 2022, in strengthening stability and security in the region and preventing new aggressions against Armenia. We have also expressed our willingness to continue mutually beneficial cooperation with the EU in the context of the implementation of a new monitoring mission in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

We find it incomprehensible why the Azerbaijani president is dissatisfied since we are talking about the possibility of implementing a mission in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. Judging by everything, the Azerbaijani side is concerned that a new EU mission may hinder their ability to carry out new aggressions against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia, the risk of which remains very high.

Does this mean that the negotiations can be considered completed?

By no means. In December 2022, we presented our proposals for the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan or, as it is commonly referred to, the draft peace agreement to the Azerbaijani side, and we are now awaiting their response.