Azerbaijani Leader's Militaristic Rhetoric Aims to Undermine Stability Efforts in the South Caucasus: Armenian Foreign Ministry

On March 16, during the summit of the Turkic states' leaders, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's speech was a clear manifestation of territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia and preparations for further aggression. This is stated in a statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

By presenting the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia under the fictitious name "Western Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani president grossly violates not only the UN Charter but also the principles of international law regarding friendly relations and cooperation between states as outlined in the UN General Assembly declaration, the Almaty declaration, as well as his own commitments undertaken in the Prague and Sochi declarations, which he references in this speech.

Azerbaijan continuously obstructs the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas, while simultaneously declaring its readiness to resettle areas that have come under its control as a result of the forced exodus of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh.

Having violated virtually all articles of the November 9, 2020, tripartite statement, the Azerbaijani president, by his own admission, hinders the process of opening regional communications with fabricated rhetoric about corridors.

The militaristic rhetoric of the Azerbaijani leader aims to completely undermine efforts to establish stability in the South Caucasus and to resort to large-scale use of force against both the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Furthermore, the offensive vocabulary directed at the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, accompanied by actions aimed at creating a humanitarian disaster on the ground, demonstrates Azerbaijan's blatant policy of ethnic cleansing at the highest level.

Moreover, voicing such provocative theses in Ankara is intended not only to disrupt the ongoing peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan but also to impede the positive dynamics present in the Armenia-Turkey normalization process.

All partners interested in the stability and peace of the region must unconditionally assess the Azerbaijani president's such policies and take effective measures to eliminate Azerbaijan's violations of international law and to exclude manifestations of the use of force.