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Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Mher Margaryan has rejected Azerbaijan’s false allegations about child soldiers in the Armenian army in a letter addressed to UN Secretary-General António Guterres.

The letter was circulated as a document of the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly on Friday, the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN reported.

“As ever, Azerbaijan’s allegations rely heavily upon deliberate distortions and fabrications. The statement claiming that “Armenia recruits children in armed forces and armed groups” is erroneous and intentionally deceptive, as is everything that follows this propagandistic narrative,” the Armenian envoy said.

“There is no evidence in the “report” by an unknown author to support Azerbaijan’s baseless claim that Armenia is recruiting child soldiers. While accusing Armenia of “actively using children in its armed forces and armed groups”, the “report” fails to provide any independent, credible sources beyond the self-serving references to Azerbaijan’s own statements, letters and communications,” Margaryan stressed, adding Azerbaijan’s practice of proliferating counter-allegations based on disinformation is not new.

Emphasizing Armenia's commitment to protecting the rights of children living in conflict areas, the Armenian diplomat said Azerbaijan needs to stop its “glaring attempts to accuse Armenia of its own malfeasance, including by way of misusing the rights of the child for outright propaganda purposes, and commit, instead, in good faith, to the implementation of the existing legal obligations, including those stemming from the legally binding orders issued by the International Court of Justice.”

The full letter is available here.