Azernews.Az

Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has firmly responded to US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim, following her statements at the Senate, Azernews reports.

"The fact that the initiator and organizer of these hearings are Robert Menendez, a pro-Armenian Senator who is notable by a traditional enmity towards our country is well-known. This person’s engagement with anti-Azerbaijani activities is based on false claims of radical representatives of the Armenian diaspora while the aforementioned Senator is charged with corruption and the investigation process is underway, once again proving that political morals means nothing to him at all.

Coming to the allegations made by Yuri Kim, US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasian Affairs not reflecting the current situation and realities in the post-conflict situation in the region are just disappointing.

These claims not only contradict the agreement on the simultaneous use of the Aghdam-Khankendi and Lachin-Khankendi roads agreed during the contacts between Ilham Aliyev, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and Anthony Blinken, US Secretary of State dated September 1, 2023, but also, unfortunately, contain elements of Armenia's worldwide smear campaign against Azerbaijan. Non-observance of this agreement, which is also intended to be implemented through the mediation of the US side, by Armenia and the so-called regime created by it, and groundless claims on the “blockade and humanitarian situation” are well-known to the US.

We would like to remind Ms. Kim, who claims that the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan is not over, Azerbaijan has proposed peace to Armenia based on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of both states following the Trilateral Statement signed on November 10, 2020. Bilateral negotiations on a peace treaty initiated by Azerbaijan and supported by international partners, including the United States, is a fundamental process of the post-war and post-conflict periods.

Although the war and conflict are over, unfortunately hindering peace and stability in the region, the imitation of negotiations and the continuous military-political provocations of Armenia, as it was during the almost 30-year occupation, have not ceased. In this regard, instead of denying the historical opportunity after 30 years of the conflict, we believe that ending provocations committed by Armenia and, most importantly, demanding the immediate withdrawal of Armenian armed forces, which have not yet left the territories of Azerbaijan is critical and fair, and we call on the US side to act based on this position.

Referring to the notion of rights and security of “the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh” while talking about the Armenian residents living in the Garabagh region within the peace treaty, containing the terminology purposefully used by Armenia to promote separatism in our territories, is against our territorial integrity and sovereignty. At the same time, this reference is disrespectful to the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from this region as a result of Armenia's policy and action of ethnic cleansing and genocide. We would like to remind the US side that the Armenian residents currently living in the Garabagh region do not represent all segments of the population of this region.

In connection with the allegation of “military attack”, while noting that, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan has never used force against the civilian population, on the contrary, we declared measures to be taken to reintegrate Armenian residents into our society at the national level, and despite the obstacles put by Armenia and its puppet regime, we are determined in this direction. The reintegration process is an internal affair of our country, and interference in that regard is unacceptable.

We advise the international community, including the US side not to be a part of such steps that contribute to instability in the region, and not to follow baseless smear campaign of Armenia," the ministry said in a statement.

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