Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of encroaching on its territorial integrity

Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of encroaching on its territorial integrity.

Representative of the Azerbaijani President on special assignments Elchin Amirbayov said by spreading another myth about the impending threat from Azerbaijan, Armenia continues to de facto encroach on Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, Azertac reports.

“According to RFE/RL correspondent Joshua Kucera’s article, dedicated to the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the sides do not trust various mediators and have recently given preference to the bilateral direct contacts, which have already given results,” Amirbayov said in an interview with Radio Liberty.

He noted that in particular, reference is made to the agreement reached by the sides in December 2023 regarding the release of detainees on both sides and mutual diplomatic support in the context of the COP29 international climate conference planned to be held in Baku.

“Armenia and Azerbaijan are already quite mature and can solve the remaining problems themselves, and the work in this sphere is underway,” Amirbayov said amid the prevailing opinion that as a result of the intrusive intervention of major players from the outside, the peace agreement is at risk turn into a theatre of geopolitical rivalry between two opposing blocs.

He noted that in this context, he said that EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell’s recent statement, in which he pointed out Azerbaijan’s territorial claims to Armenia and called on Baku to return to substantive negotiations with Yerevan, is “complete nonsense”.

“Accusations against Azerbaijan about alleged territorial claims against Armenia are nothing more than an unsuccessful and useless attempt to shift the blame from the guilty to the innocent. Armenia’s current Constitution and the reference there to the declaration of independence of this country enshrines the arbitrary and absolutely illegitimate decision on the so-called “reunification of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic with Nagorno-Karabakh,” Amirbayov added.

“There are a lot of such specific facts, for example, the reservations adopted by the Armenian parliament while ratifying Armenia’s accession to the CIS, calling into question the ownership of Karabakh by Azerbaijan, or the numerous lawsuits launched by Armenia against Azerbaijan after the end of the 44-day second Karabakh war, documents to which contain overt territorial claims against Azerbaijan. I'm not even talking about the official website of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, which continues to present the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan as an integral part of historical Armenia,” Amirbayov said.

“We have repeatedly informed the Armenian side of our above-mentioned concerns, but, unfortunately, Armenia has not yet taken specific actions. The deliberate spread of ridiculous rumours about the impending Azerbaijani threat, as well as the preservation of territorial claims against Azerbaijan, not only is trickery, but also a path to nowhere,” he added.