Official Baku responds to Armenian Foreign Ministry

"On August 27, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, speaking to the heads of the central apparatus of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the diplomatic and consular missions of this country, resorted to anti-Azerbaijani attacks that were far from reality and incompliant with the essence of the negotiations," the Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Azerbaijan Republic said, Report informs.

"In this connection, it should be emphasized once again that Nagorno-Karabakh was, is and will be an integral part of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The entire world community recognizes this fact and unequivocally condemns the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia. There is no concept of the “people of Nagorno-Karabakh”, but there is an Armenian and Azerbaijani community of this region of Azerbaijan. The internationally accepted model for the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is based on the norms and principles of international law, consistent with the respective decisions of the UN, OSCE and other international organizations, primarily the four UN Security Council resolutions. Meanwhile, concrete steps within the framework of peaceful settlement were proposed by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs and repeatedly voiced by them, including in their latest statement of March 9 this year.

"Azerbaijan as a multi-ethnic state with an internationally recognized multicultural society cannot be compared with mono-ethnic Armenia, which expelled the entire Azerbaijani population from their ancestral lands, on which this country is now located, and, moreover, committed monstrous ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, when the Khojaly tragedy became the culmination.

"The attempts of the Armenian Foreign Minister to somehow justify the aggressive intentions of his country, referring to the people's right to self-determination, which implies the free expression of the will of citizens, are in no way consistent with international law or common sense. It is impossible to advocate for the rights of part of the population of any territory, while completely violating the rights of its other part.

"The rights of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, now under the occupation of the armed forces of Armenia, were violated en masse due to the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. And only after the restoration of the fundamental rights of the Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Azerbaijan Republic to safe return to their homes and decent living there, it will be possible to specifically discuss the forms of realization of the rights of the residents of the region to self-government.

"The latest statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia aimed at domestic consumption is fraught with a very dangerous tendency to escalate the conflict, rather than resolving it peacefully, as Znat Mnatsakanyan is so eagerly asking for.

"Armenia should decide whether they want peace, or escalation ?! There is an impression that the current Armenian leadership is consciously inclined to escalate the situation, rather than to settle it. Unfortunately, we have to admit that official Yerevan today proceeds from annexationist, and not from realistically tied positions. However, in any situation, it is obvious that Azerbaijan will never reconcile with the existing status quo based on occupation. Our patience is not unlimited, "the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.