Thursday, August 3 2023 18:51

ArmInfo.The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan responded to the assurances of the Prime Minister of  Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, regarding the accusations of territorial  claims against Armenia and attempts to undermine the peace process.

Today at a meeting of the RA Cabinet of Ministers, Pashinyan stated  that grossly violating point 6 of the tripartite declaration of  November 9, 2020, Baku illegally closed the Lachin Corridor, (Berdzor  Corridor) illegally blocking the entry of humanitarian cargo to  Nagorno Karabakh. According to the PM in this way Baku intends to  sign a peace treaty with clauses that leave room for questioning the  border fixed by the Almaty Declaration between Armenia and  Azerbaijan, and later, already in the process of delimitation and  demarcation, make territorial claims to the Republic of Armenia.

Pashinyan also considers Baku's actions by a group of Azerbaijani  border guards to plcea flag on the territory of the Republic of  Armenia on the Hakari bridge on June 15 as a provocation.

"Azerbaijan's practice of placing flags in various places arbitrarily  and often with the use of force resembles an act of aborting the  delimitation process, and the peace process in general," he said.

As stated in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of  Azerbaijan, the attempts of the Prime Minister of Armenia "once again  to direct the opinion of the international community in the wrong  direction regarding the activities of the Lachin border checkpoint,  as well as in matters of territorial integrity and delimitation, are  an indicator of the intentions of the Armenian side to aggravate the  situation, instead of to make a positive contribution to the process  of normalizing relations between the two countries."

Azerbaijan continues to insist on the version that "the allegation  that Azerbaijan allegedly blocked the Lachin road has no basis."  "Azerbaijan has repeatedly drawn attention to the issue of the  inadmissibility of transporting goods by Armenia to Azerbaijan  without the permission of our country by vehicles previously involved  in the transportation of military equipment and a number of other  illegal freight transport under the guise of "humanitarian cargo",  the Foreign Ministry said.

Baku not only accused Yerevan of provocation, pointing to the alleged  "June 15 shelling by the Armenian side of Azerbaijani border guards,  who raised the Azerbaijani flag on the Hakari bridge built by  Azerbaijan on its sovereign territory," but also went further -  stating that "the ongoing territorial claims against Azerbaijan, the  propaganda of the so- called "regime" created as a result of the  occupation of the "territory of Azerbaijan" by Armenia demonstrates  that Armenia is not committed to territorial integrity and  sovereignty, as well as to the process of delimitation>.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry comments, that "if the  Armenian side is really interested in peace and stability in the  region, and supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of  Azerbaijan not only in words, but also in deeds, it should refrain  from such "provocative steps" and support the use of the  Agdam-Khankendi road and other alternative routes proposed by the  Azerbaijani side to meet the needs of the Armenian residents of  Karabakh. The Armenian side also should not interfere with the  efforts of Azerbaijan to reintegrate the Armenian residents of  Karabakh>.