The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan responded to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia against Azerbaijan dated March 18.

According to APA, the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aykhan Hajizadeh, said that he strongly condemns the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia dated March 18, which shows the continuation of groundless territorial claims against the Republic of Azerbaijan, targets the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, and rudely interferes in its internal affairs. we reject.

We urge Armenia, which cannot digest the return of former IDPs who were victims of Armenia's ethnic cleansing policy to their native lands, to once again understand the reality of the 44-day Patriotic War in the region and refrain from aggressive steps and revanchist politics.

In violation of international law and four UN Security Council resolutions, the return of Azerbaijani IDPs to their homeland by Armenia, which has occupied Azerbaijani territories for 30 years, forcibly expelled nearly 1 million Azerbaijanis from their native lands, and brutally destroyed all historical and religious monuments belonging to Azerbaijan in the region, is a "violation" of the Trilateral Declaration. ” and describing it as “illegal settlement” is another clear manifestation of hypocrisy.

This statement demonstrates the racist discrimination and hatred of Armenia.

At the same time, this statement is aimed at the nefarious goal of Armenia, a mono-ethnic state that has carried out a large-scale ethnic cleansing policy against Azerbaijanis for decades, not only from its own territory, but also from the Middle East countries, by illegally settling Armenians in our occupied territories - to falsely "Armenize" the territories of Azerbaijan and prevent the return of Azerbaijanis in every possible way. demonstrates that he has not given up on his goal of becoming

It should be noted that referring to residential areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan with fictional names is another manifestation of Armenia's territorial claims against our country.

It seems that Armenia, which has just become acquainted with international law and the principle of respect for territorial integrity, should continue its educational activities in this field.

The Prague and Sochi declarations put an end to Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan and demand that it recognize and respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Nevertheless, including this statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, the recently intensified rhetoric, aggressive statements of the political leadership of this country, especially the actions directly targeting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, show that Armenia does not intend to use the historical opportunity for peace once again. does.

Claiming by Armenia that Azerbaijan, which took the initiative to sign a peace agreement after the 2020 war, presented the 5 basic principles of establishing relations and the text of the peace agreement, is not interested in the peace agreement, is another clear example of fraud.

It is well known that Armenia, which did not respond to Azerbaijan's proposal to sign a peace agreement for more than a year, and then conditioned the signing of the peace agreement with the delimitation process that usually takes a long time and other destructive proposals, obstructed the peace agreement with various excuses, created confusion about the nature of the negotiation process by exaggerating certain elements.

Armenia artificially slows down the negotiation process on the peace agreement with such statements,

As it is known, even before the war of 2020, the chain of provocations committed by Armenia, both verbally and in deed, from the first day Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came to power, hit the negotiation process on the settlement of the former Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict and led to a serious increase in tension in the region. had taken out.

Under the leadership of N. Pashinyan, Armenia adopted a military doctrine and a national security strategy that envisages the concept of "a new war for new territories" and defines the country's strategic goal in the negotiation process as preserving the results of the war. It is well known that he put forward 7 unjustified conditions against.

The Armenian side, not forgetting its habit of making conditions, interferes with the reintegration of the Armenian residents of Azerbaijan.

In order to prevent the determined activity of the Azerbaijani side in the direction of conducting a dialogue with the Armenian residents, the Armenian side allows provocations that make the representatives of the Armenian residents oppose the proposal to hold the next dialogue in Baku and put forward 3 conditions for the process.

It seems that the Armenian side has not digested the successful dialogue with the Armenian residents in the last two years regarding the construction of the new Lachin road, the Sarsang reservoir and a number of other directions.

The fact that the Armenian side does not hide its hostile attitude towards the term "reintegration" and describes this concept as a challenge to dialogue and peace,

indicates his intention to continue his unfounded territorial claims under new forms and new names.

If the Armenian side is interested in peace in the region, it should stop the attempts of the central authorities of Azerbaijan to interfere with the contacts of the Armenian residents for the purpose of reintegration, to hinder it.

The attempts of the Armenian Foreign Ministry to convince the international community that this country is not a monoethnic state can be considered as Armenia's first steps towards understanding that monoethnicity is actually an anomaly in the multi-ethnic Caucasus region.

Regarding the claims of Armenia against the success of Azerbaijan as a multinational state, let us note that it is well known that many ethnic peoples live in conditions of unity and stability in the territory of Azerbaijan, contribute to the success of the state, and hold a number of high positions, including the membership of the Milli Majlis.

The Armenian side should understand that the citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan is an obligation as well as a right.

Necessary conditions will be created for Armenian residents who accept them to live in Azerbaijan.

The Armenian side should give up its intention to use the ethnic minorities in the territory of Azerbaijan in its unsuccessful and insidious policy, instead of trampling on the rights of hundreds of thousands of West Azerbaijani communities forcibly expelled from their native lands in the territory of current Armenia and preventing dialogue with them at all costs, this community should be settled in a peaceful, dignified and safe manner. should respond to calls for dialogue with Armenia for the purpose of return.

Thus, the practical indicator that Armenia has given up the concept of "ethnic incompatibility" and the "title of a mono-ethnic state based on ethnic cleansing" and has chosen peaceful coexistence and multiculturalism can be created by creating conditions for the members of the West Azerbaijan Community to return to their historical lands.

The Armenian side, which ignored the calls and decisions of international organizations to end the occupation during the 30-year occupation period, should also stop its efforts to use the international organizations launched after the 44-day war as a tool for its revanchist and territorial integrity policy, and immediately stop attempts to interfere in the cooperation and relations of the Republic of Azerbaijan with international organizations.

Azerbaijan, despite all illegal intervention attempts, blackmail and threat efforts by Armenia, carried out large-scale reconstruction and construction works after ending the occupation of their territories, cooperation with the international community, including UN specialized organizations, in order to ensure the safe and dignified return of internally displaced persons. continues.

We remind the Armenian side that the delegation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees got acquainted with the large-scale devastation caused by Armenia in our territories liberated from occupation in October 2021, including the settlement of Sugovushan.

Unlike Armenia's vandalism, Azerbaijan proves with its restoration and reconstruction works that

the owners of the region have returned and further encroachment attempts in these areas will be prevented.

The activity of international organizations in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan will continue within the framework of the legislation of Azerbaijan, and interference in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan will never be allowed.

Regarding the false and fraudulent claims of the Armenian MFA regarding the implementation of the Tripartite statement, we would like to remind you that the Armenian side, which refuses to fulfill the 4th, 6th and 9th points of the statement in particular and never complies with international agreements, is precisely the Tripartite statement. two weeks after its signing, he illegally transferred his soldiers to the territory of Azerbaijan and committed military provocation against Azerbaijan.

Despite attempts by Armenia to present these detained persons as prisoners of war, these persons were not recognized as prisoners of war and the International Court of Justice as well as the European Court of Human Rights rejected this claim and the demand for their release.

In addition to this, the Armenian side, the Armenian forces in Aghdam,

Contrary to the Tripartite Declaration, the Armenian side has not fully withdrawn its armed forces from the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan. Despite the promise made when the Trilateral Declaration was signed, it continues to occupy a number of settlements and territories, including 7 villages of Gazakh district and 1 village of Saderak district.

The fact that Armenia proposes to organize the delimitation process on the basis of Soviet maps and does not accept these villages as Azerbaijani settlements is another violation and an indication that Armenia's intention is false.

In addition, Armenia carries out mining and other terrorist activities in the territories of Azerbaijan by transferring newly produced mines to the territories of Azerbaijan.

Although Armenia initially denied the existence of mine maps for 8 months, it is known that later, as a result of international pressure, it presented some useless mine maps.

It is also known that more than 55% of the mine explosions that took place in the territory of Azerbaijan took place in areas outside the maps handed over by Armenia.

As a result of such provocations of Armenia, after the 2020 Patriotic War, 286 people became victims of landmines, of which 49 people, including 3 journalists, were killed.

At the same time, Armenia, with all its efforts, grossly violated the Trilateral Declaration,

It is obvious that Armenia, which has resorted to so-called "ethnic cleansing" and "genocide" tales to distract attention from these steps that threaten peace, is looking for further provocations to convince the international community of its false claims.

It is also known with what cruelty Armenia committed mass massacres against Azerbaijanis, killed 613 civilians in one night in Khojaly and committed acts of genocide.

It is impossible to deny the facts that about 4,000 Azerbaijanis have disappeared as a result of the policy of aggression against Azerbaijan, that Armenia has refused to provide information about the missing persons, and that a number of mass graves have been discovered in the territories of Azerbaijan freed from occupation.

Despite such an aggressive policy of Armenia, Azerbaijan released many detained persons.

After the war of 2020, more than 1,700 Armenian bodies were handed over to Armenia by carrying out appropriate searches, and as a result of the Armenian provocation in September 2022, nearly 200 bodies were handed over to Armenia.

It seems that the Armenian side has forgotten the measures taken by Azerbaijan with good intentions for humanitarian purposes and on a unilateral basis.

Once again, we call on the political leadership of Armenia to act responsibly, to refrain from provocations, statements, and false rhetoric that undermine the peace opportunities created after the 44-day war in the region.