Expert: Peacekeepers' actions reduce Azerbaijan's trust in Russia to zero

"Already from the first sentence of the well-known bulletin of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the preamble and relevant paragraphs of the statement signed on November 10, 2020, between Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, as well as the Declaration on allied cooperation of February 22, 2022, between Azerbaijan and Russia, were grossly violated," political scientist Elchin Mirzabayli told Report.

The expert stressed that there is no administrative-territorial unit called "Nagorno-Karabakh" in Azerbaijan:

"In general, the use of the phrase "Nagorno-Karabakh" can be perceived as encouragement and, therefore, support for separatism. The Russian side assumed a number of obligations under the bilateral declaration signed with Azerbaijan. And these, of course, are mutual obligations. That is, the countries must work together to fight separatism and prevent threats."

The political scientist noted that in the first sentence of the bulletin of the Russian Defense Ministry, the settlements located within the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan, which are integral territories of Azerbaijan, are called "the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh."

"This is contrary to both the relevant provisions of the UN Charter and the aforementioned documents, and is regarded as unacceptable behavior that calls the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan into question, being a blatant manifestation of hypocrisy. The Armenian Armed Forces should have been withdrawn from Azerbaijani territories long ago. However, until now, the Armenian separatists and their terrorist gangs are under the auspices of the direct command of the Russian peacekeepers temporarily stationed on the territory of Azerbaijan, and pose a threat to the citizens of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan has the full right to conduct any military operation on its territory and, using the rights arising from the principles of the November 10 Statement, to clear its lands of Armenian gangs," Elchin Mirzabayli said.

Elchin Mirzabayli stressed that the attempt to present the Armenian illegal armed formations on Azerbaijani territories as "Nagorno-Karabakh armed formations" shows that the Russian Ministry of Defense and the peacekeepers temporarily stationed on the Azerbaijan territories are taking sides:

"Not only do they fail to comply with the principles of the tripartite statement, but they also act contrary to the provisions of the alliance declaration signed by the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan. The position of the Russian Ministry of Defense and the behavior of the peacekeeping mission, which serves everything but the peace, reduces the trust in Russia to zero in Azerbaijan."

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry has addressed the Russian Defense Ministry with a request to ensure the withdrawal of the remnants of the Armenian army and illegal Armenian armed groups from the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan, not to spread distorted information about the movement of the Azerbaijani armed forces within the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, not to use the term "Nagorno-Karabakh," but name the Azerbaijani territories correctly.