Armenian Foreign Ministry reacted to criticism of Hay Dat

ArmInfo. Armenia has in no way revised its assessment of Turkey's destructive involvement in the region, and these concerns were clearly noted in this issue, in  particular, regarding the holding of joint Turkish-Azerbaijani  exercises near the Armenian border.

This is stated in the statement  of the press secretary of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs  (MFA) Anna Naghdalyan, in response to the harsh criticism of the  Central Committee of Hay Dat in connection with the statements of the  head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry Ara Ayvazyan on the  Armenian-Turkish relations, made during the questions - responses  from the rostrum of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia  on February 10.

Naghdalyan noted that the comments or "statements" of "Hay Dat" fall  out of the general context of the statements made by the minister,  and in no way reflect the assessment and approaches of Armenia  regarding the regional involvement of Turkey.

She stressed that the Armenian Foreign Minister during his speech  pointed to the illegal policy of Turkey on the blockade of Armenia,  insisting that at present there is not even that pretext, referring  to which, Ankara kept a closed border with Armenia for decades. "It  should be noted that all the governments of Armenia, as well as the  leading diaspora organizations, have always considered this blockade  illegal and advocated its termination," the Foreign Ministry  spokeswoman said.

Anna Naghdalyan stressed that the position of the Republic of Armenia  on this issue has not undergone any changes, as well as the  determination to follow the priorities of foreign policy.  "We are  convinced that the direct involvement of Turkey in the war unleashed  by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, the military and other mass crimes  committed against the people of Artsakh make the international  recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide even more  urgent, with the aim of preventing and non-repetition of such  international crimes," she said, adding that in this matter Armenia  will continue to closely cooperate with the authoritative  organizations of the Diaspora.  "At the same time, I consider it  important to emphasize that on various occasions the Foreign Minister  noted that we will not consider the statements voiced by Turkey, but  the actions that have not been constructive to this day," the RA MFA  Speaker summed up.

Let us remind that yesterday during the questions and answers in the  RA National Assembly, Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan noted that the  main goal of the country's authorities is to strengthen the security  atmosphere around Armenia and Artsakh. The minister acknowledged that  this is a difficult issue, which is a manifestation of geopolitical  developments. "It will be necessary to make every effort to bring the  situation towards de-escalation, which, in turn, will lead to the  security of Armenia," he said. The minister recalled that security  consists of many components, ranging from internal stability to  various international platforms.

Pointing to the military exercises conducted by Turkey and Azerbaijan  in Kars, Ayvazyan noted that they cause concern of the Armenian side.  "Various messages are constantly coming from Turkey. It is customary  in diplomacy to send signals by means of messages, but taking into  account the factor of Turkey, it is time to be guided not by  messages, but by actions. I am confident that Turkey, under pressure  from the international community, will return to a normal process.  Moreover, there are no more grounds for the blockade of Armenia, "the  RA FM noted.

This statement by Ayvazyan drew sharp criticism from Hay Dat, which  saw in this message of the minister the intention of the Armenian  authorities to consign to oblivion the issue of international  recognition of the Armenian Genocide, Turkey's hostile attitude  towards Armenia and the Armenian people, as well as ignoring the  direct involvement of Ankara in Azerbaijan's large-scale aggression  against Artsakh. Hay Dat noted that such an approach of the Armenian  authorities to relations with Turkey could negatively affect the  activities of Hay Dat organizations around the world due to  ideological differences with the position of official Yerevan.