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Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reacted to the statement of their Azerbaijani counterpart regarding Prime-Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement of August 5 made in Stepanakert.
The statement by the Azerbaijani MFA reads: “The statement of Armenia’s Prime-Ministery Nikol Pashinyan that “Nagorno Karabakh is Armenia” contradicts the spirit and essence of the negotiations on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. The aggressive statements of the Armenian Prime Minister clearly contradict the spirit and the essence of the negotiations on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict conducted for many years, including the recent discussions of the meetings between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
This statement is also a major blow to the negotiation process mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs. The statement of the Armenian political leadership, being completely contrary to the subject of the negotiations on the settlement of the conflict, does not correspond to the appeal of Yerevan itself for “exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict”. N. Pashinya’s speech in Khankendi has revealed his real face.
Pashinyan’s populist statements, far from the reality, demonstrate how oblivious he is of global and regional processes and indicate what a helpless person he is.
Despite the fact that his statement is primarily intended for internal audiences, it does not give him any reason to call for annexation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Apparently, the current leadership of Armenia deals with vague promises to deceive himself and the Armenian people.
The responsibility for all the tensions in the region, the violation of the fundamental human rights of hundreds of thousands of IDPs – the victims of ethnic cleansing policy, as well as for undermining the peaceful settlement of the conflict and thus the situation created as a result of it rests on Armenia.”
On August 5, 2019, during his trip to Nagorno Karabakh, Nikol Pashinyan stated that the government of Armenia had thought of a megaproject by which the population of Armenia would reach 5mln by 2050, 1.5 mln new jobs would be created, employment issues woud be resolved for 2.5 mln people, poverty would be eradicated. “We plan to multiply Armenia’s GDP by 15, have at least 5 companies with a capilisation over 10 bln USD and 10.000 operating startups. In terms of combat efficiency, our army will be in the top 20 in the world and we will be among the top 10 states with most efficient intelligence services. Many of you may ask: why is Karabakh not part of the project? The answer is clear – Karabakh is Armenia and that’s it.”
Armenia’s MFA’s statement: “The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan of 6 August 2019 is a stark demonstration of failure to adhere to basic rules of civility and decency, incapacity to sustain civilized norms of conduct between nations, especially amongst parties engaged at the highest level in highly complex and sensitive process of conflict resolution. Personal attacks, contained in the statement are deplorable and attest to the culture of intolerance and hatred towards the Armenian people, prevalent in Azerbaijan, spearheaded and encouraged by their authorities.
The authorities of Azerbaijan, who have been consistently rejecting any possibility of a direct engagement with the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and their elected authorities, who perpetrated ethnic cleansing and other mass atrocities against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the 1990s and in April 2016, who have been consistently conducting policies of hatred, including by way of public glorification of murderers of Armenians, bear direct and immediate responsibility for creating existential security risks for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Republic of Armenia remains the only guarantor for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in ensuring their security, their freedom and inalienable human rights, including the right to development and the right to self-determination. Armenia regrets the incapacity of the authorities of Azerbaijan to understand the context and the content of the speech of H.E. Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, of 5 August 2019, which addresses the pan-Armenian agenda of advancing unity, solidarity, development and prosperity for Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora.
Furthermore, the Prime Minister of Armenia has repeatedly stated that any viable option for the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict should be acceptable to the peoples of Artsakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The authorities of Azerbaijan, however, have been consistently failing to reciprocate willingness and capacity for a solution acceptable to all parties. Azerbaijan continues to adhere to its maximalist demands, accompanied with the threat or use of force, consistently violates the ceasefire regime, defies the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to consolidate an atmosphere conducive to peace and reject any solution acceptable to all parties. Such positions are consistently reflected in statements of the leadership of Azerbaijan.
The position of Armenia with regard to the peaceful settlement remains unchanged, which is clearly reflected in the above-mentioned address of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia. Armenia is resolute in achieving a strictly peaceful resolution of the conflict, rejecting any threat or use of force and defending the security of the people of both the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”