Azernews.Az

By Trend

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan reacted to the statements made by Artur Vanetsyan, director of the National Security Service of Armenia, Trend reports referring to the press service of the Foreign Ministry.

The Ministry noted that the fact that a high-ranking Armenian official spoke in this vein is a blatant attack against a years-long negotiating process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, contrary to its essence and logic, especially in light of the results of the last meeting of Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers in Paris.

“In essence, what we have here is an audacious attempt to undermine the negotiation process and challenge the activities of the co-chairs. On the other hand, this statement is another clear evidence of Armenia’s direct involvement in the occupation of Azerbaijani lands and a desire to somehow "justify" its plans of annexing these lands, including via an illegal immigration policy, which fundamentally contradicts the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols to them."

"In connection with this, we would like to remind the aggressor country that it is precisely Armenia who is responsible for all possible negative consequences of such provocative statements. Azerbaijan, for its part, will raise this issue at the leading international organizations, including the UN, the OSCE, etc. At the same time, we urge the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to make a decisive statement principally condemning such steps by the representatives of the senior political leadership of Armenia," the Foreign Ministry said.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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