Heads of Azerbaijani, Armenian parliaments argue at IPA CIS meeting

Sahiba Gafarova, chairman of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, and Alen Simonyan, chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia, exchanged claims at a meeting of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly on March 29 in Almaty, Report informs via RIA Novosti.

During his speech, Simonyan stated that the Azerbaijani side had violated the ceasefire.

"The information about the alleged violation of the ceasefire regime by Azerbaijan is absolutely untrue... Members of the illegal Armenian armed formations, who illegally entered the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, attempted to commit another sabotage against the units of the Azerbaijani Army, and as a result of the measures of our armed forces, they were forced to retreat," Gafarova said in turn.

Sahiba Gafarova stressed that Azerbaijan is committed to the trilateral statement of January 10, 2020 and has not violated its provisions.

"It is not Azerbaijan, but Armenia that violates the provisions of the statement," she added.

Gafarova also demanded "the complete withdrawal of the remnants of the Armenian army and illegal Armenian armed formations from the territory of Azerbaijan."

She noted that Azerbaijan handed over all the prisoners of war to Armenia following the tripartite statement. According to her, the servicemen of the Armenian Armed Forces who entered the territory of Azerbaijan after signing the statement of January 10, 2020, are not considered prisoners of war per the Geneva Convention and are subject to criminal liability.

In response to these statements, Simonyan stressed that "not only the Republic of Armenia, but also the Russian Federation" noted the violations.

"I would like to repeat: Armenia offers Azerbaijan to begin negotiations on the conclusion of a peace treaty immediately," he added.

The head of the Azerbaijani Parliament, in response, stated that Baku had repeatedly offered Yerevan to sign a peace treaty, taking into account five points, "which are very well known to the Armenian side."

"I officially declare that these five points are acceptable for Armenia, and we believe that if we add some aspects, we can begin to implement [this work]," Simonyan concluded.