Pashinyan talks about Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the situation in Artsakh

Azerbaijan is trying to annihilate all Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, thus consider the issue closed. If we are wrong, then let Azerbaijan demonstrate concrete interest in discussing the rights and security guarantees of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh - an issue is raised not only by Armenia but also by the entire international community, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the Government session.

According to Pashinyan, this is a problem that is put forward not only by Armenia, but also by the international community. "But official Baku is moving in the opposite direction, claiming that there is no Nagorno-Karabakh. This is also the reason why the official circles of Azerbaijan react quite aggressively to all the cases when the international community uses the name Nagorno-Karabakh. However, the use of this name is unequivocally legitimate, logical, because, among other reasons, the trilateral declaration of November 9 clearly states the terms Nagorno-Karabakh, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. That declaration is also signed by the President of Azerbaijan."

He noted that the fact that Azerbaijan has adopted and is implementing a policy of "Nagorno Karabakh without Armenians" is also substantiated by arbitrary interpretations of the November 9 trilateral declaration. "Among them is, for example, Azerbaijan's persistent claims that a November 9 trilateral declaration pledged the withdrawal the Defense Army from Nagorno-Karabakh. This is more than an arbitrary comment, because the November 9 declaration clearly states which areas the Armenian units should leave and where they should stay. I should also say that the earlier statements of the President of Azerbaijan testify to the fact that this provision put forward by Azerbaijan is imaginary. During our trilateral meeting mediated by the President of the Russian Federation on November 26, 2021, he himself publicly stated that practically all the provisions of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020 have been implemented, except for the point of opening communications. I would like to emphasize that from our point of view, the provision on the return of prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees has obviously not been fully implemented so far, and we are, of course, continuing the work on that. But we must state that the withdrawal of the Defense Army of Nagorno Karabakh means the withdrawal of the Armenians from Nagorno Karabakh, and in fact this is the demand that Azerbaijan is formulating," Pashinyan said. 

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recalled the statement of the Armenian Security Council from March 28 at today's government session․ "The statement, issued following the discussions in expanded format, emphasizes the aspiration of Azerbaijan to launch new provocations and attacks in the direction of Nagorno-Karabakh. We underlined that there is quite a high probability of such developments on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border as well. This statement, naturally, raised additional questions and I want to come up with a number of clarifications and justifications to make the situation in the region clearer for both the Armenian and the international community." 

Pashinyan said that like before, during and after the 44-day war in 2020, Azerbaijan pursues a policy of formatulating the wording for justifying the military attack on Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. 

"They first bring forward theses, proposals or comments on the diplomatic and public platform, then accuse Armenia of not responding to those theses, proposals or comments or reacting in an unconstructive way or rejecting them, then attributes some promises to Armenia, fabricates some types of arrangements. Then, in the context of this discourse, they attribute to Armenia none-constructiveness, denial, the practice of not fulfilling promises, not adhering to the agreements, and build aggressive rhetoric based on this accusation, followed by aggressive actions, which are justified by the discourse and content already described above," Pashinyan said adding that Azerbaijan is trying to legitimize a large-scale attack on Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia.

"In the above context, by the way, sometimes dissinformation plays a significant role, as it is now commonly said, fake news. Now, for example, the false information circulated by Azerbaijani sources is widely spread in the Western world, as if Armenia has provided 4 of its Su-30SM multifunctional jets to Russia for use in Ukraine. This, of course, is outrageous disinformation and our SUs have never left the borders of our country since the day they were imported to Armenia. In the same way, the false news that terrorists are being transferred to Ukraine through the territory of Armenia is presented as truth. Every more or less informed one knows that Armenia, which suffered from the involvement of mercenary-terrorists in the war against it two years ago, can never contribute to their involvement in other places, this is completely absurd information," Pashinyan said.

Çavuşoğlu wanted to hold a trilateral meeting with the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Antalya, but there was no opportunity

It is important that Azerbaijan supports the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in an interview with the Turkish TV channel A Haber. "Aliyev strongly supported this during our consultations. Without consultations with Azerbaijan, it is impossible for us to take steps on radical issues," Turkish FM said.

Çavuşoğlu stressed that the war is over, lessons need to be learned from it․ "It is necessary to take steps for stability in the Caucasus: Both we and Azerbaijan are opening our borders. Relations with Armenia are also improving. In addition to positive messages, we also appointed special representatives. They met face to face twice, are constantly talking on the phone", Çavuşoğlu said noting that they have taken steps to increase confidence, in particular, emphasizing the resumption of flights.

Çavuşoğlu also touched upon the existence of political contacts. "The Armenian Foreign Minister arrived at the diplomatic forum in Antalya. I wanted the three of us to have a meeting (the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey- ed.), it was impossible in Antalya. Armenia was isolated because of its attitude towards Turkey and Azerbaijan. It is impossible for everything to normalize in one day," Çavuşoğlu said.

Referring to the statement of the Turkish Foreign Minister, the spokesperson of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Vahan Hunanyan said that the issue of organizing a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan is not on the agenda.

"Yes, there was a proposal in Antalya, but, as you know, there was no such meeting, and now there is no such issue on the agenda," said Hunanyan.

Putin discussed the situation in Artsakh with Pashinyan and Aliyev

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

"The development of the situation around Nagorno-Karabakh was discussed with an emphasis on solving practical tasks aimed at ensuring security and stability in the region. The importance of consistent implementation of all the provisions of the trilateral statements from November 9, 2020, January 11 and November 26, 2021 was confirmed," the Kremlin reports.

The office of the Prime Minister reports that Pashinyan presented to the Russian President the situation after the incursion of Azerbaijani troops into the responsibility zone of the Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh and noted with regret that the situation has not been resolved, moreover, according to some information, new provocations by Azerbaijani units are possible in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping force.

Prime Minister Pashinyan provided details on the actions of Azerbaijan to intimidate the residents of the villages of Nagorno Karabakh with loudspeakers and to exert psychological pressure.

Nikol Pashinyan reiterated that these actions and the incursion of Azerbaijani units into the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno Karabakh in the presence of peacekeepers raise questions and thanked the Russian President for a positive attitude to the issue of carrying out investigation of the situation.

The Prime Minister presented to the Russian President the expectations of the Armenian side that the Russian peacekeeping contingent will take measures to withdraw the invading Azerbaijani units from the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

The leaders of the two countries agreed to take measures to urgently resolve the situation. They both highlighted the full implementation of the trilateral statements signed by the President of the Russian Federation, the Prime Minister of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan on November 9, 2020 January 11 and November 26, 2021.

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