'Contempt for international law': Armenia slams Aliyev's latest statements
The Foreign Ministry of Armenia has responded the statements of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made on Friday. Below is the full statement released by the ministry on Saturday.
"The remarks of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev delivered on May 27 once again demonstrate the deconstructivism, the arbitrary, false interpretation of the agreements, and the continuation of aggressive and warmongering policy by the Azerbaijani side.
The aspirations towards the sovereign territory of the neighbouring country and standing from the position of use of force to achieve these goals are nothing but a contempt for the norms of international law, which seriously question the sincerity of Azerbaijan's intentions to achieve peace in the region.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia considers it necessary to reiterate its principled position, namely that the negotiations on normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan should be held on the basis of proposals of both sides, which should address the whole agenda of the issues, including the final settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
With its speculations, the Azerbaijani side attempts to present the Nagorno-Karabakh issue as a territorial dispute while it is about the realization of the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh and the exclusion of the threat of ethnic cleansing.
In this regard, we remind that the international mandate of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship received in 1995 to support the comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, does exist.
We call on the leadership of Azerbaijan not to disrupt the discussions conducted in the existing formats with warmongering, expansionist rhetoric.
At the same time, we draw the attention of the international community to the statements made by official Baku, and expect the unequivocal attitude of our international partners, which will make it possible to achieve stability and peace in the South Caucasus."