Restrictions Should Be Imposed on Armenian Armed Forces, Says Hajiyev

The Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev, has labeled Armenia as an "occupying country," stating that "restrictions should be imposed on the Armenian armed forces."

“If we pay attention to the system of international relations after World War II, we will see that there are very few states that are occupiers and aggressors, including Armenia,” said Hajiyev.

Recalling that certain restrictions were imposed after the Iraq-Kuwait war concerning the development of Iraqi armed forces, he emphasized, “We believe that similar restrictions should also be imposed on the Armenian armed forces.”

He also mentioned that “it is high time to dissolve the Minsk Group.” “The fact that Armenia keeps this institution on the agenda and continues its efforts in this direction suggests that Yerevan is trying to create the impression of an unresolved conflict while attempting to retain certain means of influence with its Western supporters,” he said.

Referring to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements regarding the constitutions of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hikmet Hajiyev noted, “The Armenian Constitution still contains a clause that includes territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As long as this remains unchanged, we see serious problems in obtaining a peace treaty between the two states. The Azerbaijani Constitution does not contain territorial claims against any state, and this is a document reflecting the legitimate will of the Azerbaijani people. We consider this comparison to be a play on words. Therefore, we advise the Prime Minister of Armenia and the political leadership to take steps to promote a real peace agenda that supports a peaceful dialogue involving the states of the region.”

During a press conference on Saturday, Prime Minister Pashinyan mentioned that the Azerbaijani Constitution contains territorial claims against Armenia. Referring to the OSCE Minsk Group, Pashinyan stated, “When peace is a settled fact, I believe that the existence of this format can raise questions. The issue here is about timing, as in my logic, we should not put the cart before the horse at all, and the question is whether it is an effective and correct approach to make this topic the subject of discussion now, because there are questions to which we also need to get answers.”

Hikmet Hajiyev also noted during a brief conversation with reporters that there are currently agreed regulations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. According to the agreement, a basis and framework are being created for the process of delimitation. The process will continue on a bilateral basis under conditions of mutual understanding. He pointed out that the delimitation process is purely bilateral in nature.

“Considering that the process between the two countries is taking place in conditions of peace and mutual understanding, we believe there is no need for the EU border mission to operate near the Armenian side; this mission’s activities should be halted,” Hajiyev added.

Yerevan and Baku agreed and signed on August 30, two months later than the previously announced deadline, on what principles they will continue the delimitation along the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs briefly announced without details that the regulations confirming the principles have been signed, and the process of domestic approval of the document has already begun.