Foreign Ministry calls on Garabagh Armenians to be part of multiethnic Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has called on the Garabagh Armenians not to leave and be part of the multiethnic country.

The ministry made the remarks in a statement published on September 28, in response to the allegations made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during his speech at the government meeting dated September 28, Caliber.Az reports, citing the ministry.

“We strongly condemn and reject the statement of Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, dated September 28, 2023, on the alleged ‘ethnic cleansing’ of Armenian residents from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

Prime Minister of Armenia not only backtracks from his statement of September 21 that there is no threat to local Armenians from Azerbaijan, but also, with this alarming narrative, aims at disrupting Azerbaijan’s efforts in humanitarian assistance and reintegration process, and undermines possible prospects of peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Armenia’s leadership fails to notice how the central Government institutions of Azerbaijan have expeditiously started to implement necessary humanitarian support measures and to address the immediate needs of the Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

It is well-known to the Prime Minister of Pashinyan that the current departure of Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is their personal and individual decision, and it has nothing to do with forced relocation. If some segments of Armenian residents do not want to live and obey Azerbaijan’s legislation and rule, we cannot force them to do so. On the contrary, we call on Armenians not to leave their places of residence and be part of multiethnic Azerbaijan.

In order to establish peace and security in the region Armenia must stop the obstacles vis-à-vis the reintegration process of local Armenians, and focus on the successful conclusion of the negotiation process on the peace treaty based on territorial integrity and sovereignty of both countries,” the statement reads.