Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Responds to Armenia's Foreign Ministry Statement

Azerbaijan is already taking steps to reintegrate the Armenian population living in its territory. This was announced by Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ayhan Hacizade, responding to the statement issued by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry on March 16.

Azerbaijan is conducting a dialogue with the Armenian residents and, as a charitable gesture, has proposed that the next meeting be held in Baku. In contrast, the Armenian side has completely rejected the offer for dialogue with the 'Western Azerbaijan Community.' This is an indication that Armenia is not interested in peace and stability in the region and is pursuing hypocritical policies,” the spokesperson stated.

It should be reminded that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia emphasized the following yesterday: “During the summit of the heads of Turkic states on March 16, the speech of the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, was a blatant manifestation of territorial claims against the Republic of Armenia and preparation for another aggression. By presenting the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia under the fictitious name of 'Western Azerbaijan', the President of Azerbaijan grossly violates not only the UN Charter but also the principles of international law regarding friendly relations and cooperation between states as stated in the UN GA Declaration, the Almaty Declaration, as well as the commitments taken in the Prague and Sochi statements referenced in this speech.

Azerbaijan continuously obstructs the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions while simultaneously declaring its readiness to resettle the areas fallen under its control as a result of the forced displacement of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The warlike rhetoric of Azerbaijan’s leader is aimed at completely disrupting the efforts to establish stability in the South Caucasus and resorting to the widespread use of force against both the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”