Azerbaijani FM: Armenia, its patrons do not want to accept new regional realities

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has said that the end of the 44-day war (2020) has created new realities in the region.

He made the remarks at the closing ceremony of the Foreign Policy Program for Diplomats at the ADA University, Report informs.

"Armenia and its patrons do not want to accept these realities, they continue their provocations," Bayramov said.

The minister added that very important processes are currently taking place in the region and young diplomats, who will be directly involved in them, must be aware of the responsibility that this profession carries.

Bayramov underlined that the implementation of the program, in which 38 young specialists took part, was successful.

Previously, an EU-backed effort to prevent a new conflict in the South Caucasus was overshadowed by a developing diplomatic spat, with Azerbaijan accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of distorting what was agreed during high-stakes peace negotiations with Armenia.

On the fringes of the European Political Community conference in Moldova on June 1 evening, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met for the latest in a series of discussions on a future peace deal. Macron entered the meeting as a mediator, along with European Council President Charles Michel and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

In a statement following the summit, the Elysée Palace said the “European leaders called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect all their commitments,” urging the two neighboring nations to release prisoners of war and avoid “hostile rhetoric.” In addition, Macron’s press service added, the three Western leaders “stressed the importance of defining rights and guarantees for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the breakaway region over which Armenia and Azerbaijan fought a brutal war in 2020.

However, on June 2, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said “the statement made unilaterally by the French President about the meeting does not reflect and distorts the position of the parties. Unfortunately, this is not the first case of such behavior by France, and it does not make a positive contribution to the peace process.”

Responding to the claims, the French foreign ministry said only that the press release issued by the presidency “set out the conclusions of yesterday’s meeting.” Hajizada, meanwhile, declined to elaborate on which parts of Paris’ version of events Baku believes are inaccurate.

On June 5, Azerbaijan described as unacceptable Armenian Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan’s attempt to distort the essence of issues in a number of directions and mislead both the international community and Armenian society and thereby avoiding the obligations undertaken by Armenia.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s statement came in response to Grigoryan’s remarks he made during his interview on Armenia’s Public Television on June 4, 2023, Caliber.Az reports.

“Regarding the claim on the foundation of the delimitation process, it should be noted that, in line with the statements of both the Prague and Sochi meetings the delimitation is considered to be carried out on the basis of the mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty. In general, reference to the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata Declaration was made in the context of the mentioned principles. It is well known to the Armenian side that there are no agreement in these and other meetings about the maps on which basis the delimitation will be carried out” the ministry said.

Furthermore, the ministry reminded that Armenia’s accusation against Azerbaijan of aggression towards Armenia, which held the territories of Azerbaijan under occupation for nearly 30 years, is still occupying 8 villages of Azerbaijan, has not completely withdrawn its forces from the territory of Azerbaijan despite the written and verbal agreements reached, is completely unfounded.

Commenting on Grigoryan’s accusations regarding the Lachin road, the ministry stressed that it's absurd that an Armenian official, who can't stomach the daily free passage of dozens of Armenian people across the Lachin border crossing in both directions by following the proper procedures, says that the Lachin road is closed.

“An immediate end to interfere in the issue of reintegration of Armenian residents would be an indication that Armenia respects the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan not in words but in deeds,” the ministry emphasized.