Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry urges Armenia to stop hindering peace process

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s continuous claims regarding the Lachin road demonstrate the intention of Armenia to use this issue for its political purposes and to obstruct the peace treaty negotiations that have been progressing recently.

The remarks were made in the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry in response to Pashiyan’s speech during the government meeting on July 20, Caliber.Az reports.

“It is well known that the illegal activities carried out by Armenia on the Lachin road after the Patriotic War were proven, and calls were made by Azerbaijan to cease them. As this activity was ignored, Azerbaijan established the Lachin border checkpoint within the norms and principles of international law, as well as the internal legislation of Azerbaijan, and ensured the transparent and well-regulated passage of both goods and Armenian residents over the past few months,” the statement read.

According to the ministry, in this regard, presenting the presence of the checkpoint as a closure of the road is an entirely wrong approach.

"It is also known that the International Court of Justice unanimously rejected the appeal of Armenia regarding the removal of the checkpoint and confirmed that this claim is groundless by its decision dated July 6. Armenia opening fire on the checkpoint on July 15, wounding a border guard of Azerbaijan, as well as its smuggling attempts demonstrated its intention to continue aggression against the territories of Azerbaijan and illegal activities in the last 30 years, thereby confirming the necessity of the Lachin border checkpoint once again.

The fact that Armenia, ignoring the statement of the President of the European Council Charles Michel on the importance for the transportation of goods of the Aghdam-Khankendi road proposed by Azerbaijan, rejects this road by any means possible proves that the claim of a 'tense humanitarian situatio' in the region is groundless and that Armenia intends to continue illegal activities on the territory of Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s claim that Azerbaijan is taking steps to carry out "ethnic cleansing" in the region is quite wrong and dangerous. Unlike Armenia, which committed massacres and carried out deportations against Azerbaijanis, Azerbaijan has never implemented a policy of ethnic cleansing against Armenian residents. The Prime Minister of Armenia, who recognizes Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan, putting forward conditions on the form of dialogue instead of promoting the reintegration of Armenian residents into Azerbaijan, is considered a step against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and is unacceptable.

Regardless of the framework in which Azerbaijan and Armenia delimit the borders, given that Armenia does not fulfil its obligation to withdraw the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan, continues to provide financial support to the territory, and emphasizes its territorial claims in various letters, statements, and speeches, it is clear that it’s trying to make the process fail, and manipulations in this direction are baseless.

Azerbaijan, as the initiator of the peace process with Armenia in the aforementioned areas, is interested in establishing peace, stability, and security in the region and is an active party in the negotiation process.

If Armenia is interested in peace, it should stop efforts that hinder the peace process," the statement emphasised.

Furthermore, the Azerbaijani ministry called on Armenia to stop efforts that hinder the peace process if it is interested in peace.