(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 29. Yerevan's
destructive activity doesn't serve to restore regional peace,
Spokesperson of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Aykhan Hajizada
said regarding the claims of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat
Mirzoyan in an interview with Armenpress News Agency on November
28, trend reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign
Ministry.
'The attempt by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on
November 28 in an interview with the Armenpress news agency to
distort the essence of the negotiations between Azerbaijan and
Armenia and opinions on such issues as the preparation of a peace
treaty, the delimitation process, the mine threat, as well as the
recognition of territorial integrity, is completely unfounded and
unacceptable.
The fact that Armenia put forward conditions for participation
in the next meeting between the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia,
the confirmation in the mentioned interview that such a meeting can
take place only with the participation of the President of France,
indicates that the Armenian side is not committed to its
obligations and forgets that the next meeting between the leaders
was agreed not in Prague, but on August 31 in Brussels in the
framework of a trilateral meeting. Despite the agreement reached on
the next meeting in Brussels, the consent of the Azerbaijani side
to a meeting in Prague, as well as the participation of the
President of France, was unfortunately abused at the next stage,
demonstrating that the French side is not an objective and fair
mediator. Unlike Armenia, the Azerbaijani side has not abandoned
negotiations between the leaders in accordance with the agreement
reached in Brussels, and is committed to continuing negotiations.
Regarding the agreement on the basis on which the delimitation
process should be carried out, we note that, contrary to the
statements of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, according
to the statements within the framework of the Prague and Sochi
meetings, the delimitation should be carried out on the basis of
mutual recognition of territorial integrity and sovereignty, as
indicated in the Charter UN and Alma-Ata Declaration. In general,
the reference to the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata Declaration is
given in the context of the mentioned principles, and the Armenian
side is well aware that at these meetings there was no mention of
what map the delimitation should be based on. The delimitation
process should be carried out on the basis of an analysis of all
documents of legal significance,' the commentary says.
As noted in the commentary regarding the allegations that the
Armenian side allegedly handed over all mine maps to Azerbaijan,
after the signing of the tripartite statement dated November 10,
2020, Armenia, which during the first 8 months denied the existence
of mine maps, subsequently, as a result of international pressure,
provided a small part of the mine maps, the reliability of which is
only 25 percent.
'In addition, more than 55 percent of recent mine explosions
occurred outside the areas marked on the maps provided by Armenia,
and 268 people became victims of mines after the war. The fact that
Armenia, which has been holding Azerbaijani lands under occupation
for 30 years and completely mined the territories along the entire
former line of contact of troops, distorts the facts and claims
that the culprit of the mine threat is supposedly Azerbaijan, is
the limit of hypocrisy. The assertion that the mines produced in
Armenia in 2021 were seized by Azerbaijan in the territories
bordering with Armenia and demonstrated contradicts elementary
logic and military knowledge, at least taking into account the
impossibility of carrying out demining work on the undelimited
border under surveillance from Armenia's military positions. The
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia once again allows
manipulations in the issue of the withdrawal of the Armenian armed
forces from the territory of Azerbaijan. We recommend that he bring
his position in line with the positions of the Secretary of the
Security Council Armen Grigoryan and other officials. As Armen
Grigoryan stated, the withdrawal of Armenian forces from the
territory of Azerbaijan, which was planned for September of this
year, has not happened yet. As for the obligation on what forces
should be withdrawn from the territory of Azerbaijan, we remind you
once again that, according to paragraph 4 of the statement of
November 10, 2020, the withdrawal of specifically all Armenian
armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan is envisaged, and
manipulations in this matter are unacceptable. We remind the
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, who, by incorrectly
commenting on the provisions of the tripartite statement, wants to
evade his obligations, that this destructive activity not only does
not serve to restore peace in the region, but is primarily directed
against Armenia,' the commentary says.