Azerbaijan Presents New Demands to Armenia

If Armenia is genuinely interested in resolving humanitarian issues, it must ensure the "right" of Azerbaijanis to return safely and with dignity, disclose the fate of about 4,000 missing Azerbaijanis, and cooperate on providing maps of minefields. This statement was made by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“We remind that the aggression against its neighbor was not initiated by Azerbaijan, but by Armenia, which has "expelled" all Azerbaijanis from both its territory and the lands it has "occupied" for about 30 years, and has "committed mass killings and destruction". Azerbaijan has "never pursued an occupation policy against Armenia," the statement reads.

At the same time, we do not intend to turn a blind eye to Armenia's ongoing "territorial claims" enshrined in its Constitution, as well as attempts to preserve the structure of the OSCE Minsk Group and other institutions related to the "resolved conflict".

We reiterate: Armenia will only be able to sign a peace treaty by eliminating the existing obstacles. Regarding calls for the release of Armenian captives accused of "war crimes", "ethnic cleansing", "torture", and other "serious crimes", we remind that their cases are being considered within the framework of international and national legislation, which is Azerbaijan's right and obligation," the Azerbaijani Ministry's statement concludes.