Baku urges Yerevan to use historical opportunity to ink peace treaty Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s statement

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Aykhan Hajizada has said that Baku urges Yerevan to use the historical opportunity to transform the South Caucasus region into a place of peace and cooperation.

Hajizada made the remarks in response to Armenian Prime Miniter Nikol Pashinyan’s “baseless” comments during the autumn session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly held in Armenia on November 18, where he stated that Azerbaijan had not taken a position on the three principles proposed by the European Union for the normalization of relations with Armenia, had not returned the captives, and had been preparing for war against Armenia, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

“Apparently, it has become a tradition for Armenian officials to give priority to baseless and contradictory statements instead of practical steps in the peace process with Azerbaijan. This time, the Prime Minister of Armenia was remembered for his contradictory views. It is unacceptable for the Armenian side to make claims against Azerbaijan instead of presenting comments on the draft agreement ‘on the establishment of peace and interstate relations’ and starting negotiations on the agreement, which it has been delaying for more than two months,” Hajizada stressed.

According to the spokesman, the Armenian prime minister contradicted himself by stating on one hand that "there is an agreement between the two countries on the basic principles and border demarcation, Armenia and Azerbaijan do not have territorial claims," and then declaring on the other hand that "Azerbaijan is preparing for war against Armenia."

Despite Azerbaijan's attempts toward the five fundamental principles, demarcation of borders, opening of communications, and signing of the peace agreement, the Armenian side obstructed this process, Hajizada said.

Despite Azerbaijan's repatriation of roughly 100 Armenian captives, Armenia's seizure of two Azerbaijani troops, who crossed the border by accident, indicates that the Armenian side does not take the problem of detained persons seriously and violates confidence-building efforts, he noted.

Hajizada emphasized that the Armenian prime minister's description of the Western Azerbaijan Community's representatives' desire to return to their native lands in a safe and dignified manner, as "preparation for aggression" against Armenia, is completely unfounded.

“We call on the Armenian side, which continues aggressive slanderous rhetoric against our country using various international platforms, to stop making statements that harm the prospects of peace and to use the historical opportunities created to transform the South Caucasus region into a place of peace and cooperation.

We hope that Armenia will give an adequate response to the calls made by Azerbaijan in the direction of the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the signing of a peace treaty in the near future,” the diplomat emphasized.