BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 31.
The accusation of "ethnic cleansing policy in the region" against the Azerbaijani side is absurd, said the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, Trend reports.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry commented on the statements voiced by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during his speech at a government session.
"A demonstration of Armenia's irresponsible manipulative activity is the fact that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during his speech at the government session on August 31, once again accused Azerbaijan of carrying out "genocide" without any grounds, devaluing this statement. We would like to remind the Prime Minister, who, instead of protesting against the provocative steps of some Armenian representatives who oppose the proposal to intensify traffic on the Lachin road in parallel with the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road to deliver supplies to Armenian residents in case of need, accuses Azerbaijan of "keeping the Armenian residents hungry", that currently the trucks of the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, which are directed towards Khankendi, are waiting in this area for the crossing of the Lachin road. If the Armenian side really needed the transported goods, it would not have prevented the passage of these goods into the territory by demanding that the road be blocked by the peacekeeping contingent. The approach of the Armenian residents once again showed that the statements of Armenia and some representatives of the Armenian residents about the "humanitarian situation" are nothing but political manipulations. As for the statement about the unilateral opening of the Lachin road and "plans to evict Armenian residents", we would like to state that conditions are currently being created for Armenian residents to cross the Lachin border checkpoint in both directions, and the accusation against the Azerbaijani side of "conducting a policy of ethnic cleansing in the region" is absurd. Apparently, the Armenian side, which for almost 30 years carried out genocide, massacres, and ethnic cleansing not only in the occupied Azerbaijani territories but also against Azerbaijanis who lived until the late 1980s in the territory of present-day Armenia, believes that every state uses the same approach and has the same understanding. It would be good if the Prime Minister of Armenia, who pays lip service to the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, would support the policy of reintegration of the residents of Armenian origin living in the Karabakh region within the framework of Azerbaijani legislation and refrain from interfering with the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. We hope that the Armenian side will correctly assess the post-conflict realities in the region and demonstrate a constructive position in negotiations with Azerbaijan to establish peace," the commentary reads.