BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 2. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statement seriously undermines the ongoing peace process, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, Trend reports.
The ministry made the remark commenting on Pashinyan's statement on September 2.
"We strongly condemn and reject the statement, which once again proves the ongoing claims against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan and serves to promote separatism in the country's Karabakh region," the ministry noted. "This statement of Armenian prime minister contradicts the previously voiced commitment to supporting the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh region."
"This unacceptable behavior of a country that does not give up its groundless claims against the territories of Azerbaijan, falsification of history, grossly violates the principles of international law, and does not draw conclusions from the deplorable situation it is in, due to its policy of aggression, should be prevented," the ministry emphasized.
"It is evident that the plan described as the unilateral secession of "Nagorno-Karabakh" without Azerbaijan's permission was against Soviet laws, and this was confirmed at the supreme constitutional level even then," the ministry said. " It is known to everyone that referring to the right to self-determination, a fake "independence referendum" was held by Armenian separatists in Karabakh on December 10, 1991, without the consent of Azerbaijan, of which the autonomous region is legally part, and without the participation of the Azerbaijani population of this region."
"It's also obvious that Armenia's claims regarding the gaining of the "independence" of "Nagorno-Karabakh" contradict the principle of uti possidetis adopted in international law, and therefore are completely groundless within the framework of international law," the ministry said. "The Armenian side's silence regarding the nearly 30-year-long military occupation of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan by Armenian armed forces, the violation of fundamental rights of up to one million Azerbaijanis, genocide, and mass killings of Azerbaijanis, shows that this country failed to learn from history."
"These and other facts, along with Armenia's unwarranted and destructive stance, have been repeatedly confirmed by decisions of international organizations over the years, highlighting Armenia's aggressive policy," the ministry pointed out. "Although Azerbaijan showed strategic patience to resolve the conflict through negotiations for decades, Armenia constantly opposed Azerbaijan's good intentions to resolve the conflict peacefully."
"We restored international justice and the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan as a result of the 44-day second Karabakh war, which broke out in response to another military provocation by Armenia, which didn't give up its policy of aggression," the ministry stressed.
"Against the background of the new realities that have emerged in the region, the destructive behavior demonstrated by Armenia not only has no prospects, but also leads Armenia into misery," the ministry noted.
"Attempts to make any claims against the territories of Azerbaijan and to incite aggressive separatist tendencies in our territories will be resolutely prevented and responded to accordingly by us," concluded the ministry.