“Unfortunately, the Armenian side is trying to divert public opinion from the real situation.”
Oku.Az This was stated by Press Secretary of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizadeh in response to questions from local media regarding the Armenian Foreign Minister’s opinion on the “peace agreement” and communications.
He said that the Armenian side sent its comments on the draft agreement on the establishment of peace and interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia, last submitted by Azerbaijan in June, at the end of August, approximately 70 days later.
“Instead of reacting appropriately to the comments submitted by Azerbaijan, the Armenian side tried to ignore the problems by removing the provisions that needed to be reflected in the draft. Although many provisions of the draft have been agreed upon so far, i.e. about 80%, it has not been possible to reach agreement on some provisions. However, this does not mean that the agreement should be signed with the unagreed provisions removed from the draft, because for the peace agreement to be sustainable and successful, the problematic issues between the two countries should be clarified in the draft.
Armenia, which continues to pursue territorial claims against Azerbaijan and seeks to restore the work of the Minsk Group, which is a vestige of the past conflict, narrows the scope of the text of the “peace agreement” and calls for signing it in all its forms, raising many questions about the true intentions of this country.
In order to sign the draft agreement, Armenia would first need to make appropriate changes to its Constitution, which currently refers to territorial claims against our country.
“Although Armenia is aware of the written and signed obligations regarding the opening of communications connecting the western regions of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, it has not fulfilled them over the past 4 years. As for the opinions on the participation of a foreign private company in the process on the territory of both countries, it should be noted that Azerbaijan has never discussed the participation of a third party in the process on its territory. If the Armenian side is really interested in opening communications in the region, it should fulfill its obligations,” the Foreign Ministry official stressed.
It should be noted that on September 9, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan stated at a joint press conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Luxembourg that the text of the draft “peace agreement” submitted by Armenia to Azerbaijan was fully agreed upon and the draft contains the agreed provisions. At the same time, he noted that the Armenian side has no intention of handing over control of any highway passing through its territory to a third party. In addition, it was noted that the issue of involving a foreign private company in the process to ensure the safe movement of cargo and passengers was discussed in both countries.
