Baku rejects "ethnic cleansing" accusations in Garabagh

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has several times allegedly accused Azerbaijan of "ethnic cleansing" against the Armenian residents in the latter's Garabagh region. 

However, Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, rejected the Armenian side's accusations

"We cannot accept accusations of ethnic cleansing or genocide. Ethnic cleansing is a forceful action, when somebody is using force against civilians -- (which is) what exactly Armenia used against us, 30 years ago," AFP quoted Hajiyev as saying on September 30.

"But it doesn't mean we will repeat the same. There was no single case of violence or atrocity against civilians. They attest this themselves," Hajiyev claimed.

He added that there were no "Armenian" citizens in Garabagh since Azerbaijan always considered the Armenian minority of the region as its citizens.

"But unfortunately an illegal separatist entity didn't allow us to have direct communication with them," he said, referring to the separatist junta established by Armenia in Garabagh after the First Garabagh War in the early 1990s.

Hajiyev said Azerbaijan had "engaged internal security troops to coordinate with the so-called local Armenian authorities".

"They are still in control of the cities," he said.

Meanwhile, Hajiyev said discussions with the ethnic Armenians in Garabagh were productive and centred on disarming its military.

As for civilians, he said Baku opened the gate and respected their freedom of movement, i.e. freedom of choice.

"The majority of them are saying: 'I can't live under the flag of Azerbaijan'. I can't justify it, but I can understand and respect that. If they accept Azerbaijan citizenship, we will protect and ensure their rights and their security and we will establish a municipality system so that they can govern their affairs at a local level, and religious and cultural rights will be assured," Hajiyev concluded.