Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

Armenia seeks to threaten Azerbaijan with a military strike on Ganja city, the Foreign Ministry said on August 17.

“After the Armenian military-political circles’ statements that Azerbaijan’s large settlements and strategically important civil facilities such as Mingachevir HPP were viewed as ‘military targets’, Armenia is now trying to threaten with a military strike on the Azerbaijani city of Ganja through the so-called ‘head’ of the illegal regime created in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” the ministry noted.

The ministry stressed that Armenia’s military-political leadership continues to make provocative steps and provocative statements in order to compensate for its recent military failure on the border in a bid to divert attention from the growing socio-economic and political crisis in the country. The ministry reminded that Armenia failed in its attack on the Azerbaijani positions on the border Tovuz region on July 12-16 that was part of Yerevan’s "new war for new territories" aspirations.

“All this is a clear demonstration of Armenia's intention not to eliminate the consequences of the conflict, but to strengthen the occupation situation created by the use of illegal force,” the ministry emphasized.

All these expose the terrorist nature of Armenia, which does not abandon its aggressive policy.

The ministry further said that Armenia – which is week both domestically and on the international arenas - “seeks to create fear among the civilian population in a manner typical of terrorist organizations.”

Furthermore, the ministry touched upon the illegal settlement policy pursued by Armenia in Azerbaijan's occupied territories. The ministry recalled Yerevan’s plan to illegally settle ethnic Armenians in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan after the deadly Beirut explosion, thereby exploiting the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East for its nefarious political purposes.

Armenia has also stated its intention to relocate some so-called "official bodies" to Shusha through the illegal regime created in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. This despicable intention regarding the city of Shusha, which is of exceptional importance to the people of Azerbaijan in terms of its cultural, historical and moral features, is another attempt to strengthen the policy of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, the ministry said.

“Restoring the right of the Azerbaijani population expelled from their native lands to return to their permanent residences in all occupied territories, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, as well as Shusha, is a red line in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. The fact that Armenia does not abandon this intention once and for all, which we consider being a crossing of this line, poses a risk of serious complications,” the ministry noted.

The ministry also pointed out to Armenia’s illegal actions to change the infrastructure of the Sarsang water reservoir to which Azerbaijan lost access due to the Armenian occupation.

“Armenia's steps regarding the Sarsang reservoir are illegal, with another violation of the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's natural resources and state and private property rights. Since the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, Armenia has been using the Sarsang reservoir as an instrument of environmental terror, depriving Azerbaijani citizens, who live near our occupied territories, of water resources, resulting in serious damage to the ecological situation in those areas and biodiversity.”

Thus, these abovementioned were unequivocally enshrined in Resolution 2085 (2016) of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The ministry stressed that efforts to change the reservoir's infrastructure must be considered as the next step of Armenia's ecological terror policy.

In addition, all infrastructure changes in the occupied territories, including the construction of roads connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan’s occupied territories, as well as steps related to the Sarsang reservoir, serve Armenia's illegal settlement policy, aims at involving more ethnic Armenians to settle in the occupied territories.

The ministry stressed that Armenia must put an end to testing the patience of the international community, especially the Azerbaijani state and society, with its provocative illegal activities and statements.

In its statement, the Foreign Ministry stated that Azerbaijan is determined to take all necessary steps to restore the territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders, protect the constitutional structure, ensure the security and rights and freedoms of its citizens, using all opportunities provided by the Azerbaijani Constitution and international law.

It was noted that the Foreign Ministry has informed the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs about these provocative attempts by Armenia to purposefully escalate the situation in the region and undermine the opportunities for the peaceful settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

The ministry said that it is important to prevent Armenia from taking steps that could have serious consequences for the region as a whole, and return it to the negotiations process with a defined political and legal framework based on four relevant UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874, 884) and OSCE decisions,” the ministry said.

The ministry stated that it will continue to take the necessary steps to stop the illegal activities of Armenia and eliminate its consequences, using all political and diplomatic mechanisms.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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