Mirzoyan: Armenia has a sovereign right to acquire weapons to protect  its own borders

ArmInfo. The acquisition of weapons is the sovereign right of any state, and it is the sovereign  right of Armenia to acquire weapons to protect its own borders. Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan made this statement  at a press conference on January 8.  The Minister drew attention to the fact that Armenia purchases significantly fewer weapons than Azerbaijan.

Touching on relations with Azerbaijan, he recalled that Yerevan had  offered Baku to create an arms control mechanism, but had not yet  received a response.  The Armenian diplomat also noted that tens of  kilometers of Armenia's sovereign territory are currently under  Azerbaijani occupation, and Yerevan does not plan to use military  force to reclaim them, but instead aims to resolve the issue through  diplomatic means. "We are acquiring exclusively defensive weapons to  modernize our own Armed Forces. We have no intention of returning any  weapons acquired. And if Azerbaijan is truly sincere in its  intentions, they would accept our proposals to create an arms control  mechanism," the head of the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.  Addressing the Baku regime's artificial narrative about the so-called  community of Western Azerbaijan, Mirzoyan emphasized that the  Armenian side consistently receives confirmation that this narrative  is part of Baku's territorial claims on the sovereign territory of  the Republic of Armenia.

 "This is another false and maximalist project that is being carried  out under the auspices of the Azerbaijani authorities," he noted.    Mirzoyan then recalled that Azerbaijanis left Armenia in the early  90s of the last century, mostly in a civilized way. "One hundred  people sold their homes in Armenia, which would have been impossible  during a forced deportation, 12,000 people exchanged their homes, and  another 160,000 received compensation from the Armenian government.  Consequently, the issue of rights is considered resolved.  However,  we can discuss the fate of over 500,000 Armenians from Azerbaijan,  starting from the Baku pogroms to Sumgait and so on," he said,  assuring that the return of Azerbaijanis to Armenia is not on the  agenda.