(MENAFN- AzerNews) By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Leyla Abdullayeva has said that Armenia is far from the concept of democracy with its policy of aggression and ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis, the ministry's press service reported on May 21.

Abdullayeva said that the fact that the Armenian Foreign Ministry called the show about the "inauguration in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan a "democratic process" not only shows the essence of this aggressive country but also manifests how far it is from the concept of democracy.

Commenting on the Armenian FM's statement on so-called "inauguration" organized by Armenia in Shusha following the illegal elections held Nagorno-Karabakh on May 31, Abdullayeva said: 'Occupying an internationally recognized territory of another state, subjecting its people to ethnic cleansing, and grossly violating human rights is called aggression in modern international legal language, not a democracy.

'As for the term "nation" referred to by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, firstly, the Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan are not the nation, but the Armenian community living in this region, the spokeswoman said.

'Secondly, in order to speak about the principle of self-determination of peoples, the Armenian Foreign Ministry must first learn what this principle means, read the Helsinki Final Act, and then give proper references to these principles, Abdullayeva added.

Abdullayeva stressed that the fact that the occupying country speaks of peace is the ultimate hypocrisy. 'A peace-loving country will not pursue a policy of aggression, a peace-seeking country will not obstruct the negotiation process, and finally, a peace-loving party will not be a major threat to peace itself, she said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia are locked in a conflict over Azerbaijan's Nagorno-Karabakh breakaway region, which along with seven adjacent regions was occupied by Armenian forces in a war in the early 1990s. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and around one million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

The OSCE Minsk Group co-chaired by the United States, Russia and France has been mediating the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict since the signing of the volatile cease-fire agreement in 1994. The Minsk Group's efforts have resulted in no progress and to this date, Armenia has failed to abide by the UN Security Council resolutions (822, 853, 874 and 884) that demand the withdrawal of Armenian military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

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