ArmInfo.In its decision to transfer minefield maps to Azerbaijan, Armenia is guided by humanitarian purposes. This is stated in a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia in response to the reaction of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry regarding the expected transfer of the minefield map.
The Department of Foreign Policy of Armenia drew attention to the following on its X page: "As mentioned on many occasions, Armenia, including as a confidence building measure, handed over to Azerbaijan all minefield maps which were at its disposal, having received them from Nagorno-Karabakh officials.
Later, guided by humanitarian purposes, Armenia prepared new maps trough inquiries among former officials of Nagorno-Karabakh, in order to transfer the maps to Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, this initiative was immediately met with a very negative and ironic response from the Azerbaijani side, negating Armenia's trust-building efforts continuing to manipulate the topic and turning Armenia's positive move into an occasion for escalating and negative rhetoric," the republic's foreign office said in a statement.
At a press conference held in Yerevan on January 23, RA Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced that Armenia can transfer new maps of Karabakh minefields to Azerbaijan if there is an environment of trust and the involvement of the international community is ensured. "Armenia has already handed over mining maps to Azerbaijan twice. But it's strange: there were statements from Azerbaijan that they were not accurate when mining was carried out mainly in the nineties, including by Azerbaijan itself. Now the Armenian side is trying to draw new maps through polls and if there is environment of trust, the Armenian side can discuss transferring them to Azerbaijan, but this time with the participation of the international community," Mirzoyan said. The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia also made a statement on this matter, saying that it was ready to transfer new data on minefields to the Azerbaijani side in the near future. Earlier, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement noting that they expect Armenia to provide accurate maps of all mined territories. According to the Azerbaijani side, Armenia allegedly does not intend to contribute to the humanitarian process and does not consider this step as a means of building confidence. Baku reported that they are waiting for accurate maps of mined areas both before 2020 and in the post-war period. "The Azerbaijani side is waiting for accurate maps of the mined territories, which have not been fully transferred to date, and the presented maps are useless and incomplete, they do not reflect the real situation. Azerbaijan also expects from the Armenian side that urgent measures will be taken to transmit information about the fate of missing Azerbaijanis missing for the last 30 years, as well as the location of their mass graves," said a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the neighboring state.