Unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has always been at forefront of efforts to further peace process Statement by Azerbaijani MFA

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has strongly condemned the allegations made during the joint press conference of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly on October 25.

According to the ministry, the Armenian Foreign Minister is once again engaged in manipulations instead of trying to utilize the chance of furthering the peace process.

The statement of the Azerbaijani ministry reads:

"It is a completely unacceptable lie and a false allegation for the Foreign Minister of the state, which committed massacres and crimes against humanity during its military aggression against Azerbaijan and kept the territories of Azerbaijan under occupation for almost 30 years while abusing its impunity, label the anti-terror measures of Azerbaijan conducted in its own sovereign territories without targeting any civilians, as “aggression” and “ethnic cleansing”. The Armenian Minister's inappropriate reference to the decision of the International Court of Justice on this issue is an attempt to distort reality.

We would like to remind Minister Mirzoyan, who claims that Azerbaijan is the side that refused to participate in the planned Brussels meeting, that, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has always been at the forefront of the efforts to further the peace process. Azerbaijan has been the main initiator in the issues of the peace principles, peace treaty, opening of communications, as well as demarcation despite the blows of Armenia to the peace process for almost 30 years. On the contrary, Armenia did not allow the successful outcome of the negotiations on the peace treaty and is now hindering the process with a number of provocative actions.

Furthermore, referring to the final statement of the Granada meeting, Armenia, which once again recalls such principles as independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, refraining from the use and threats of using force, forgets that it was the party which violated the same principles with every effort during more than 30 years.

And the biased position of the Canadian Minister, which demonstrates the lack of knowledge of the situation in the region, is completely unfounded.

Canadian Minister’s assertion about the humanitarian crisis in the region, at a time when no such crises exist, when it has never demonstrated open support to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and interest in the situation of the IDPs from formerly occupied territories of Azerbaijan and of those who were forcefully deported from Armenia, is an indication of the overt bias of Canada against Azerbaijan.

Regarding the non-exclusion of sanctions as a tool against Azerbaijan, we would like to note that it is erroneous to speak with Azerbaijan in the language of threat and that it will not bear any results to either side.

It should be borne in mind that such provocative and biased statements are nothing more than an obstacle to the further development and progress of the region on the basis of respect for the principles of international law."