No:207/23, Commentary of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Aykhan Hajizada on the allegations made by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in his speech at the meeting of the government held on April 13, 2023

Allegations made by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan during his speech at the meeting of the government dated April 13, 2023, shifting blame to Azerbaijan for the latest provocation in the vicinity of Lachin, and accusing Azerbaijan of not fulfilling its obligations undertaken within the Prague and Sochi meetings are completely groundless and unacceptable.

the Prime Minister`s reiteration of the idea of using the 1991 border as a basis for delimitation, referring to the statement of the European Union made a day earlier, contains a number of biases. We would like to remind the Prime Minister of Armenia that, in 1990, Karki and Baghanis Ayrim villages of Azerbaijan were occupied as a result of the occupation policy of Armenia against Azerbaijan. Moreover, it is obvious that contrary to the Trilateral Statement, Armenia has not yet withdrawn its armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan and is still keeping 8 Azerbaijani villages under occupation. In this regard, the Prime Minister should first clarify what is meant by the 1991 borders.

Armenia`s continued claims against Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity and sovereignty, and its failure to withdraw its forces from these territories is a striking example of a serious violation of the Prague and Sochi agreements and Armenia`s disinterest in the peace process. 

Armenia does not refrain even from distorting the decision of the International Court of Justice regarding the Lachin road instead of positively responding to Azerbaijan`s proposal to establish a border checkpoint at the beginning of the Lachin road to put an end to the provocations and illegal activities carried out by Armenia in Azerbaijan. We note that the claim that the Azerbaijani government is allegedly the organizer of the protests on the Lachin road was rejected by the Court and that the claims that “the road was closed” and “the area was blocked” have no basis. 

We demand that Armenia, instead of making baseless statements, returns to the negotiations on the peace agreement, which it refused since December last year, opens communications, complies with the obligations arising from the Trilateral Statement, including the complete withdrawal of its forces from the territories of Azerbaijan, and refrains from taking steps targeting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.