Interfax: Russia & CIS Military Newswire
Wednesday 11:40 AM MSK
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry urges Armenia not to escalate Karabakh tensions
BAKU. Feb 13
Azerbaijan has rejected Yerevan's allegations of aggressive rhetoric and urged the Armenian administration not to escalate tensions around the Karabakh conflict but to assist in a peaceful settlement process, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Leyla Abdullayeva said on Wednesday, commenting on a recent statement made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in parliament.
"Pashinyan shouldn't be escalating tensions with his remarks; instead, he should lay the foundations for productive talks on the settlement of this conflict, which the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs called for in their latest statement," Abdullayeva told Interfax.
Azerbaijan rejects Armenia's allegations of Baku's "aggressive rhetoric" and attempts to change the format for negotiations, she said.
"On one hand, he [the Armenian prime minister] talks of the importance of creating peaceful environment for the sake of settling the conflict while, on the other, he is trying to change the format of the negotiating process and to accuse Azerbaijan of 'aggressive rhetoric' and apparently preparing its population for war, instead of peace. Truth be told, this is not about the 'aggressive rhetoric' of Azerbaijan, but about the aggressive actions of Armenia," Abdullayeva said.
In her words, Azerbaijan is continuing peace talks with Armenia despite 20% of its lands having been occupied by the Armenian army.
"Nagorno-Karabakh and adjoining territories are an integral part of Azerbaijan, which is internationally recognized and currently occupied by the Armenian forces. The international community recognizes members of the local Armenian community as Azerbaijani citizens," Abdullayeva said.
So far, the statements made by Armenian leaders are simply raising more questions instead of promoting peace and development in the region, she said.
"That's the stance of the Armenian administration. Naturally, all these useless comments are not helping Armenia's appeals for an exclusively peaceful resolution of the conflict," Abdullayeva said.
"The sooner the Armenian prime minister realizes the good a settlement of the conflict will do for the region and, specifically, his country, the sooner he'll be able to keep his promise of 'an economic revolution' to the Armenian population," she said.
Pashinyan said in parliament on Tuesday that Armenia was considering an exclusively peaceful settlement in Nagorno-Karabakh, but all conflicting sides should be trying to create an atmosphere of peace in order for that to happen.