BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 28. Armenia's anti-Azerbaijani rhetoric undermines international efforts on the peace treaty, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said, Trends reports.
The ministry made the remark in response to Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan's July 27 press interview.
According to the ministry, Mirzoyan made claims against Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and sovereignty, as well as false guesses that drastically distorted the negotiation process and agreements reached, as well as historical facts.
"The Armenian side's anti-Azerbaijani campaign on various international platforms, including rhetoric undermining the efforts of international mediators on a peace treaty, once again demonstrates Armenia's lack of interest in regional peace and stability," the ministry said.
Of particular importance is appropriate assessment by the international community of Armenian FM's aggressive rhetoric.
The ministry pointed out that Mirzoyan distorted the true causes and essence of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, and that inability of the Armenian Foreign Minister to learn lessons from historical mistakes is a source of serious threat.
"Mirzoyan's denial of the fact of the forcible eviction of Azerbaijanis from the territory of present-day Armenia, the statement about the non-application of a parallel approach between the rights of the Western Azerbaijan Community and the rights of Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, and denying the negotiations held in this regard, Armenia's violation of relevant international obligations indicates its intention to justify the policy of ethnic cleansing, systematically and purposefully carried out by Armenia for decades," said the ministry.
Killing of peaceful Azerbaijanis living on the territory of Armenia and their forced resettlement through intimidation are historical facts, the MFA said.
Despite the provocative statements, Azerbaijan's MFA said Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan should get acquainted with all the historical facts in order to have a full understanding of the scale of violence and deportation of the Azerbaijani population carried out on the territory of present-day Armenia.
Nowadays, there are no traces of Azerbaijanis who once formed a percentage majority on the territory of present-day Armenia, and this activity was an integral part of the organized and purposeful policy of this country, said the ministry.
"The denial by the Armenian leadership of the rights of Azerbaijanis to a safe and dignified return to their native lands, opposition to the Western Azerbaijan Community, the refusal from dialogue in this direction, "territorial claims", the ignorance of the "human rights" concept in Armenia, is an indicator of the insidious policy of this country to preserve "the title of a mono-ethnic state"," the ministry added.
The ministry said that Armenian FM should understand that the rights of the Armenian residents of Karabakh can never be higher than the rights of the Azerbaijani population, and Azerbaijan wants only an equal approach to the various ethnic peoples living on its territory.
"The expulsion of Azerbaijanis from Armenia is not only a historical fact, but also evidence that the Armenian side, both during Soviet Armenia and since the 1990s, purposefully changed numerous Azerbaijani toponyms on the territory of Armenia, distorted traces of Azerbaijan on the territory of Armenia, destroyed historical monuments. The Armenian side presents Azerbaijan's use of the "Western Azerbaijan Community" expression as a violation of international law. This is hypocrisy,” the MFA said in the statement.