Azerbaijan condemns Armenia's military buildup, warning of escalating regional tensions

Aykhan Hajizada, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, vehemently rejected Armenia's recent statement dated June 19, 2024, which seeks to justify its military buildup.

According to Caliber.Az, in his commentary, Hajizada emphasized Azerbaijan's firm stance on this matter.

"Regarding the allegation that Armenia has a sovereign right to pursue a policy of mass militarisation, we would like to note that everyone should be aware of the reasons why these actions are illegitimate and pose a threat to our country," the commentary reads.

"It is a political manipulation that Armenia, which for almost 30 years has grossly violated the norms and principles of international law, committed aggression against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan in violation of the Alma-Ata Declaration which this country repeatedly refers to nowadays, continues its territorial claims against its neighbours and only seizes its aggressive actions following the steps taken by Azerbaijan, tries to project an image of a peaceful country. 

It would be better to clarify why Armenia which now refers to the 1991 borders and territorial integrity based on the Alma-Ata Declaration, disregarded these documents over the past 30 years, refused to recognize the borders based on the Soviet maps, and occupied the territories of Azerbaijan," Hajizada noted.

He further noted that it is outrageous that Armenia, which does not recognise any borders, presents the military positions where Azerbaijani soldiers are stationed after 30 years as territories of villages belonging to Armenia despite lack of delimitation and accuses Azerbaijan of occupation. 

"Contrary to statements that allegedly support peace and aimes at strengthening Armenia's defence capabilities, it is evident that nations like France, which are competing to equip Armenia with offensive lethal weaponry, are serving to turn Armenia into a new source of tension and threat. Considering that this policy contributes to the future possible aggression of Armenia, it is important to refrain from these steps until it is too late.

The prerequisite for the signing of the genuine and enduring peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia is the cessation of Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan, which are enshrined in numerous legal and political documents of this country, especially the Constitution of Armenia, which explicitly refers to the Act of Independence of Armenia calling for the 'unification of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.'

The logic of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia that this problem can be ignored indicates that this country is not interested in sustainable peace and is only trying to maintain this situation as a backup option to start aggression against Azerbaijan again in the future," the commentary says.

Hajizada noted that considering the aforementioned, this country has no moral ground for questioning the sincerity of Azerbaijan in the peace process.

"We reiterate that Armenia's insidious policy towards creating new tensions in the region and hindering peace and stability will not yield any results.

Instead of such provocations and ideas full of political manipulation against Azerbaijan, Armenia must adhere to international obligations not in words but in deeds and contribute to the peace process," he concluded.