Armenian MFA on Aliyev's Statements

On April 18, 2023, the statements of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev once again highlight his intentions to torpedo the efforts of the Armenian side and the international community aimed at establishing peace in the South Caucasus. This is stated in a declaration by the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: "With these statements, Ilham Aliyev openly shows contempt for various international partners, in the presence and mediation of whom Azerbaijan has recognized the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and has undertaken a number of clear commitments, including the establishment of an international mechanism to address border delimitation between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan based on the Almaty Declaration, and the rights and security guarantees for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Furthermore, the Azerbaijani president explicitly acknowledges the conduct of a planned aggression against the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia and the fact of occupation, as well as unambiguously reveals his intentions to subject the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing. The president of Azerbaijan, under whose leadership there are gross and blatant institutional violations of human rights and the rights of various groups in that country, openly issues existential threats directed at the peaceful population of Nagorno-Karabakh residing in their homeland.

The hate speech directed at the Armenian people by the Azerbaijani leadership is clearly aimed at deepening the intolerance and hatred toward the Armenian people, which has been state-sponsored for decades in Azerbaijani society. This has resulted in war crimes committed by representatives of the Azerbaijani armed forces, extrajudicial killings of prisoners of war and civilian persons on ethnic grounds, and the very perpetrators recording and disseminating these acts as objects of pride.

It is also inspired by the statements of Azerbaijan’s political leadership that, days ago, an Azerbaijani serviceman illegally invaded the territory of the Republic of Armenia and deliberately subjected an Armenian citizen to brutal murder while communicating his intention to inform the Azerbaijani side about this, as well as about his intention to kill numerous other Armenians, including civilian individuals. We are convinced that after the aforementioned statement by Azerbaijan's president, there can be no doubt in the international community regarding the organized nature of these crimes at the state level.

Instead of seeking sustainable and lasting resolutions to the accumulated problems in the region over the years, Azerbaijan is attempting to advance its maximalist ambitions through threats of force and the use of force. The Armenian side has repeatedly warned about the destabilizing potentials of this policy pursued by Azerbaijan and has drawn the attention of the international community to the dangers posed by such a demeanor for an international order based on international law."