An attempt by Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia, during his speech of November 10, 2022 at the government meeting, to distort the speech of the President of Azerbaijan in Shusha of November 8, and create an impression that Azerbaijan has not fulfilled its obligations is completely groundless and unacceptable. Such an approach of the Armenian leadership is another blow to the process of normalization of relations between the two states and establishment of peace in the region, spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizade said, commenting on the statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan during his speech at a government meeting on November 10.
"Accusations of Prime Minister Pashinyan against Azerbaijan on violation of international law, while turning a blind eye to Armenia’s aggression against Azerbaijan over the past 30 years, gross breach of the fundamental rights of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis within the framework of the occupation policy, and numerous crimes against humanity, is an ultimate level of hypocricy. Making such a baseless accusations instead of admitting the violations of international law by his country over the years, and even admitting in a certain sense the violation of the obligations undertaken by the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, Armenian Prime Minister seriously calls into question Armenia’s sincerity in the peace process," he said.
"We remind Prime Minister Pashinyan that in the 44-day war of 2020 Azerbaijan liberated its internationally recognized territories from the occupying forces and restored its territorial integrity by using the right of self-defense in accordance with the UN Charter. Armenia, on the other hand, is still refusing to implement the Trilateral Statement dated November 10, 2020, including the 4th, 6th and 9th paragraphs of the Statement, personally signed by Prime Minister Pashinyan, thus violating its international obligations," Hajizade noted.
"Adequate responses by Azerbaijan to various military provocations of Armenian armed forces, which are still not completely withdrawn from the Azerbaijani territories and continue to pose a threat to the region contrary to the Trilateral Statement, are legal. It is Armenian side that delays the process of opening the communications of the western regions of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, violating the obligation undertaken in the 9th paragraph of the Trilateral Statement; Azerbaijan, on the other hand, honestly fulfills its obligation by building the new Lachin road. In this case, the Armenian Prime Minister’s claim that Azerbaijan intends to close the Lachin road is nothing more than a deliberate escalation of the situation in the region," the spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.
"We emphasize that in accordance with the Trilateral Statement, the Republic of Azerbaijan guarantees only the safety of the movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions along the Lachin road, and the use of the road for military purposes is unacceptable. As acknowledged by Armenian officials, the Armenian armed forces have not been completely withdrawn from the territories of Azerbaijan, and the landmines produced in Armenia in 2021 are transferred to the territory of Azerbaijan. This means that Armenia continues to abuse the Lachin road for illegal military activities in contrary to paragraph 6 of the Trilateral Statement," he stressed.
