Press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Aykhan Hajizadeh, made a statement to the media regarding the views expressed by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan during his interview with the Egyptian news agency "AlQahera" on March 23, 2023.

APA was informed about this by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

It was noted that Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan's attempt to create confusion among the international community by distorting the essence of negotiations on the draft peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia during his interview with Egypt's Al-Qahera news agency is completely unacceptable.

These statements of the Minister of Armenia are once again a clear example of the extent to which Armenia allows manipulations in the negotiations on the peace agreement and its frivolous approach to the process.

As is known, despite the agreed format of the peace agreement negotiations between the parties and the agreement to follow certain rules in these negotiations, the Armenian side boycotted the next round of negotiations in December and disrupted the negotiations.

The Armenian side has not yet returned to the negotiations on the peace agreement.

On the other hand, the Armenian side interprets some of the elements they proposed to the draft peace agreement by taking them out of context and creates a wrong opinion among the public.

This approach does not contribute anything positively to the process, on the contrary, it aims to hinder the negotiations on a peace agreement.

Regarding the claims of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia regarding the "international mechanism for the rights and security" of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, we would like to note that Azerbaijan's position on this matter is known to Armenia.

Attempts to include a provision on this in the draft bilateral peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia demonstrate that Armenia has not yet given up its territorial claims against Azerbaijan, contrary to the norms and principles of international law, and such attempts will have no results.

As repeatedly stated by Azerbaijan, the reintegration of residents of Armenian origin living in the region will be ensured in accordance with the Constitution and legislative acts of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Azerbaijani side is determined to conduct a dialogue with the Armenian residents in this direction, and foreign interference in this matter will be prevented.

The Azerbaijani side put forward a proposal to hold the next meeting in Baku in the direction of the reintegration of Armenian residents, and Armenia should not interfere with Azerbaijan's activities in this direction.

Once again, we call on the Armenian side to return to the negotiating table on the peace agreement and to do serious work in this direction.

Azerbaijan is ready to immediately participate in the negotiations on the peace agreement.