
Foreign Ministry of Armenia has responded to the April 21 statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry. "Today the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan disseminated yet another cynical statement turning obvious facts upside down in an attempt to put the responsibility for military actions, unleashed on April 2 by itself against Nagorno-Karabakh, on the Armenian side, the purpose of which is to avoid responsibility for the committed war crimes. It is not for the first time that Baku makes futile attempts to distort the obvious reality. During communications our international partners have also confirmed that, beyond any doubt it was Azerbaijan, which initiated the large-scale offensive along the entire Line of Contact with Nagorno- Karabakh, resulting in hundreds of killed and maimed, and committed war crimes. Armenia strongly condemns Azerbaijan's futile attempts to cast doubt on the trilateral ceasefire agreement of 1994, signed by Azerbaijan, Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, that does not have time limitations. It is a dangerous step which threatens with further destabilization of the situation in the region. The aggressive military actions launched by Azerbaijan at the beginning of April could not result in the cessation of the 1994 agreement, rather they raise the liability of the party which violated it. All of this shows that, despite the calls of the international community to continue the negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship, Baku's real intention is to undermine the settlement process. The fact that the lengthy statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry does not contain any reference not only to the statements of the heads of the Co-Chair countries on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution but it also lacks any mentioning of the only internationally mandated mediation format of the Minsk Group Co-Chairs whatsoever, clearly demonstrates that. Azerbaijan strives to portray the negotiations as a kind of a process that discusses solely those issues which fit Baku's interests. It is obvious that calls and appeals are not sufficient anymore to bring Baku back to senses. Definite steps are needed to bring Azerbaijan to order and into a constructive mood," the Foreign Ministry of Armenia says in the statement. To recall, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued on April 21 that Armenia allegedly "continues to undertake efforts aimed at further consolidating the current status quo of the occupation, strengthening its military build-up in the seized territories, changing their demographic, cultural and physical character and preventing the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani forcibly displaced persons from returning to their homes and properties in those areas." In support to its blatant lie, the Azerbaijani ministry did not forget to mention the four UN resolutions saying: "The Republic of Azerbaijan has repeatedly brought its strong protests and serious concerns in that regard to the attention of the international community and has made it clear on numerous occasions that the unlawful presence of the armed forces of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is the main cause of tensions and incidents in the conflict zone and the major impediment to the political settlement of the conflict."