BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 1. Armenia's absurd claims have no grounds, and are being categorically rejected, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement regarding the statement of the Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ani Badalyan in connection with the establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin-Khankendi road, Trend reports.
According to the Azerbaijani ministry, Azerbaijan's legitimate decision and step to establish a checkpoint on its sovereign territory complies with all the principles and norms of international law, while Armenia's interference in Azerbaijan's decisions is unacceptable.
The ministry also noted that the Armenian side, commenting on the peaceful protest rally on the Lachin-Khankendi road, apparently "forgot" that the rally was aimed against the road’s use for illegal activities and military provocations.
Besides, according to the ministry, the Armenian side continues to distort the interim decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
As the ministry noted, the Armenian side still cannot adopt the ICJ’s dismissal of Armenia’s two major claims that the protests of Azerbaijani eco-activists were allegedly “organized by the Azerbaijani government” and that “Azerbaijan cut off access to natural gas and other communal services”.
The ministry expressed regret that the Armenian side has evaded the issue of mine threats against Azerbaijan over the past 30 years.
The latest court hearings on the above issue once again showed that Armenia's reports to international organizations that it allegedly "does not produce or bury mines" are based on lies, the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the interim decision of the International Court of Justice does not relieve Armenia from responsibility for such violations as the placement of mines and mine traps on the territory of Azerbaijan, the transportation of mines manufactured in 2021 to the territory of Azerbaijan using the Lachin-Khankendi road, as well as the non-provision of reliable maps of mined areas.
The ministry further noted that Armenia's accusations of aggression by Azerbaijan, "ethnic cleansing" and "occupation of villages" are absurd, given that since gaining independence, Armenia, contrary to the norms and principles of international law, itself committed military aggression against the internationally recognized territories of Azerbaijan and massacres, destroyed occupied cities and hundreds of villages, carried out ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis, expelled hundreds of thousands of people from their native lands, and didn’t comply with four resolutions of the UN Security Council.
Within the framework of the obligation assumed by Armenia when signing the trilateral statement [signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war], instead of returning Karki village in the Sadarak district of Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the villages of Sofulu, Barkhudarly, Baghanis Ayrim, Gizil Hajili, Yukhari and Ashaghi Askipara, as well as Khairimli village of the Gazakh district [which were occupied in the early 1990s], this country questions the belonging of these villages to Azerbaijan, which shows that Armenia does not renounce territorial claims against Azerbaijan, the ministry also said.
The statement of the spokesperson for the Armenian Foreign Ministry that there are no armed forces of Armenia on the territory of Azerbaijan runs counter to the statement of the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, the Azerbaijani ministry pointed out.
The conduct of criminal cases against the so-called "military personnel" of the separatist regime [in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh] by the law enforcement agencies of Armenia itself is clear evidence that they are subordinate to Armenia, the ministry said.
Azerbaijan once again calls on Armenia to give up its territorial claims against Azerbaijan, and ensuring peace and stability in the region depends on this, the ministry added.
In order to prevent the transportation of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other military equipment from Armenia for illegal Armenian armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan, and as an adequate response to the unilateral establishment of a checkpoint by Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan on April 22 at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road contrary to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, on April 23 at 12:00 (GMT+4), the units of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan set up a border checkpoint in its sovereign territories, on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road.