Details added (first version posted on 13:15)
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 16
Trend:
Armenia's groundless territorial claims against Azerbaijan and other neighboring states seriously threaten regional security and peace, spokesperson of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev told Trend Feb. 16.
Hajiyev added that Baku was surprised at the reaction of the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry to the statements voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the sixth congress of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party.
"Taking into account the relations of strategic partnership and the high-level dialogue between Azerbaijan and Russia, we see such attitude to the president’s statements as improper," Hajiyev said.
Hajiyev stressed that the policy pursued by President Aliyev serves to ensure peace and security in the region, strengthen regional cooperation and eliminate potential regional risks.
"During the sixth congress of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party, President Aliyev spoke about the return of Azerbaijanis to their historical lands, rather than about the return of Azerbaijani historical lands," he said. “The president’s statement was spread by media in various languages and it was fully translated into Russian language.”
Hajiyev added that the forced mass expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia, the destruction of the material and cultural heritage belonging to the indigenous Azerbaijani population in Armenia at various stages of history, including the late 1980s, are historical facts which are testified by documents.
"In general, why should anyone be concerned about the peaceful return of the Azerbaijani people to their historical lands?" Hajiyev said. “The return of people to their native lands, places of permanent residence, was stipulated as one of the fundamental rights in all documents of relevant international organizations concerning the settlement of various conflicts, including the UN and the OSCE.”
“According to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, one of the important components of the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is to ensure the return of more than one million Azerbaijanis, who have been subjected to bloody ethnic cleansing, to their historical lands," he said.
Hajiyev stressed that the continuation of occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven adjacent districts by Armenia by using the military force, territorial claims to Azerbaijan and other neighboring countries seriously threaten peace and security in the region and exacerbate the situation.
"By grossly violating international humanitarian law, Armenia intentionally accommodates ethnic Armenians from Syria in the occupied Azerbaijani territories,” he said. “While making public statements, the Armenian political leadership voices claims related to Nakhchivan and other territories of Azerbaijan.”
“While addressing the Armenian youth, the political leadership of Armenia speaks about young people’s participation in future wars for grabbing new lands for the sake of the so-called Great Armenia,” he added. “The Armenian constitution reflects open territorial claims to another neighboring country. Armenia has also territorial claims to all its neighbors on the basis of the contradictory mythical ideology of "Armenian Highland".”
“We think that while expressing the attitude to the issues, it is necessary to know exactly their essence and refer directly to the primary authentic source, rather than distorted information of Armenian media outlets and Armenian politicians," Hajiyev said.