BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept. 24
Trend:
The chain of provocations committed by Armenia in word and deed under the leadership of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan caused serious damage to the negotiation process on the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and greatly increased the tension in the region, Trend reports citing the statement of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The inflammatory statements, accompanied by aggressive military actions, military, and other provocations, indicate that Armenia is preparing for new aggression against Azerbaijan, said the MFA's statement.
"Having dispelled all possible expectations of the international community, the Armenian leadership decided to choose the policy of annexing its predecessors from the day of its coming to power. Armenia, having publicly stated that it abandons the logic and concepts of the negotiation process, which has been going on for many years under the leadership of the OSCE Minsk Group, and envisaging a phased withdrawal of its armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, dealt a blow to it. As Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated in his interview on September 19, "their [Armenia's] absurd statements, provocative steps make the negotiations meaningless", said the ministry.
On the contrary, under Pashinyan's leadership, Armenia adopted a military doctrine and a national security strategy that envisages the concept of a "new war for new territories" and defines the goals of this country in the negotiation process as preserving the results of the war, the statement noted.
The current leadership of Armenia, by the intensification and expansion of illegal activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, including the illegal resettlement of ethnic Armenians from the Middle East, once again unequivocally proves that it is pursuing a policy of annexation, abusing for this purpose the negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group, stressed the MFA's statement.
“Armenia's aggressive behavior culminated in a deliberate act of aggression in the direction of Azerbaijan’s Tovuz district on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border on July 12-16,” the statement said. “This armed attack was not an accidental military incident, this is another clear demonstration of the illegal use of force by Armenia against Azerbaijan and was aimed at seizing new territories of Azerbaijan.”
“Armenia, which failed in this "test" attack, but was still preparing for the next act of aggression, purchased a lot of weapons and ammunition and concentrated its forces along the line of contact,” the statement said.
“The threats of a military strike against important civilian infrastructure and big populated areas of Azerbaijan are accompanied by the intensification of Armenia’s military intelligence and sabotage in the depths of the Azerbaijani territory,” the statement said.
“Moreover, Armenia announced about the creation of military units (in which tens of thousands of servicemen will serve) which will be used to conduct military operations against Azerbaijan,” the statement said.
“In the context of Armenia's preparation for a new military attack, Azerbaijan calls on the international community, in particular the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, to bring Armenia to a sound mind and force it to refrain from new aggression,” the statement said.
“The Armenian leadership must renounce its provocative statements, stop all actions that violate stability, and in good faith fulfill its obligations to achieve the political settlement of the conflict, the parameters of which have already been determined by four UN Security Council’s resolutions, as well as the OSCE decisions and documents,” the statement said.
“Until this happens, the Armenian officials cannot deceive either Azerbaijan or the international community with the statements that this country is allegedly ready for negotiations,” the statement said.
“As Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated at the high-level meeting dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the UN, there is only one way to achieve peace - the Armenian armed forces must be withdrawn from all the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity has never been and will not be a subject of compromise,” the statement said.