"Stop thief!": Baku accuses Pashinyan of escalating tensions in  region

ArmInfo.The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry rejected the statements of Armenian Prime Minister  Nikol Pashinyan, which he made today at a government meeting, describing them as 'unfounded'  and 'intended to deliberately inflame tension in the region'.

At a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Republic of Armenia  Nikol Pashinyan, recalling that On February 13, as a result of the  aggressive actions of Azerbaijan, 4 border guards on combat duty at  the Armenian state border in the area of the Nerkin Hand settlement  of the enlarged Kapan community of the Syunik region were killed,  stated that Baku's intentions remain the same: to pursue a policy of  military coercion against the Republic of Armenia. Pashinyan also  pointed out that Azerbaijan regularly talks, as it puts it, about the  territories of 4 villages, at the same time refusing to accept that  the vital territories of 31 non-enclave villages of the Republic of  Armenia are under Azerbaijani occupation, territories from which Baku  does not want to leave. "Azerbaijan is trying to start military  operations on certain sections of the border with Armenia with the  prospect of unleashing a full-scale war against the Republic of  Armenia," he emphasized.

In response, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry notes that Azerbaijan's  actions were allegedly taken in response to the injury of an  Azerbaijani serviceman.  The department called on Yerevan to clarify  the question of why the promises of the Armenian Ministry of Defense  to conduct an investigation into the injury of an Azerbaijani  serviceman have not yet been fulfilled: "It is also necessary to  clarify on what basis mercenaries from various military formations  located at the border posts of Armenia are subordinate to the  Ministry of Defense this country>.  " At the same time, it would be  useful to clarify why the Ministry of Defense of Armenia didn't  fulfill their commitment regarding an investigation into the injury  of an Azerbaijani soldier so far, as well as on what basis the  mercenaries from different military groups at the border posts of  Armenia were subordinated to the Armenian Ministry of Defense."

Commenting on Pashinyan's statement about enclaves and exclaves, the  Foreign Ministry said:"Referring to the issue of enclave and exclave  villages of Azerbaijan, another assertion of the Prime Minister of  Armenia that Azerbaijan had occupied the territories of 31 villages  is part of political manipulations. We would like to remind the Prime  Minister, who stated in his previous statements that there are 32  such villages, that Armenia first and foremost has obligations to  return 8 villages of Azerbaijan," the statement says.

" It would be appropriate to get an explanation why Armenia, which  refers to the territorial integrity and conduct of delimitation on  the basis of the borders of 1991 and the Alma-Ata Declaration, has  not complied with these maps and agreements in the last 35 years,  refused to accept the borders reflected in the Soviet maps, and  occupied the territories of Azerbaijan.

We would like to remind the Prime Minister, who claims that Armenia  supports the territorial integrity of all its neighbors, the ongoing  claims against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in Armenia's  Constitution, legislative acts in force, official letters,  statements, documents distributed in international organizations and  courts. 

If Armenia is genuinely interested in the peace process, this country  should abandon its claims against the territorial integrity and  sovereignty of Azerbaijan," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in  a statement. Thus, Baku did not miss another opportunity to demand  changes to the Constitution of Armenia and present territorial claims  to the Republic of Armenia.