August 7, 2019 - 09:49 AMT
Yerevan: Armenia remains the sole guarantor of Karabakh security

The statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry of August 6 is a stark demonstration of failure to adhere to basic rules of civility and decency, incapacity to sustain civilized norms of conduct between nations, especially amongst parties engaged at the highest level in highly complex and sensitive process of conflict resolution, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Suring the opening of the Pan-Armenian Games in Nagorno Karabakh on Tuesday, August 6, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan called for the reunification of Armenia with Karabakh. Afterwards, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying that "Azerbaijan will never reconcile with the occupation of its territories and will continue its efforts to liberate our occupied lands and return our displaced people back to their houses".

According to the Armenian side, personal attacks, contained in the statement are deplorable and attest to the culture of intolerance and hatred towards the Armenian people, prevalent in Azerbaijan, spearheaded and encouraged by their authorities.

"The authorities of Azerbaijan, who have been consistently rejecting any possibility of a direct engagement with the people of Nagorno Karabakh and their elected authorities, who perpetrated ethnic cleansing and other mass atrocities against the people of Nagorno Karabakh in the 1990s and in April 2016, who have been consistently conducting policies of hatred, including by way of public glorification of murderers of Armenians, bear direct and immediate responsibility for creating existential security risks for the people of Nagorno Karabakh," reads the statement.

"The Republic of Armenia remains the only guarantor for the people of Nagorno Karabakh in ensuring their security, their freedom and inalienable human rights, including the right to development and the right to self-determination. Armenia regrets the incapacity of the authorities of Azerbaijan to understand the context and the content of the speech of H.E. Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, which addresses the pan-Armenian agenda of advancing unity, solidarity, development and prosperity for Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora.

"Furthermore, the Prime Minister of Armenia has repeatedly stated that any viable option for the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict should be acceptable to the peoples of Artsakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan. The authorities of Azerbaijan, however, have been consistently failing to reciprocate willingness and capacity for a solution acceptable to all parties. Azerbaijan continues to adhere to its maximalist demands, accompanied with the threat or use of force, consistently violates the ceasefire regime, defies the calls of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to consolidate an atmosphere conducive to peace and reject any solution acceptable to all parties. Such positions are consistently reflected in statements of the leadership of Azerbaijan.

"The position of Armenia with regard to the peaceful settlement remains unchanged, which is clearly reflected in the above-mentioned address of the Armenian Prime Minister. Armenia is resolute in achieving a strictly peaceful resolution of the conflict, rejecting any threat or use of force and defending the security of the people of both the Republic of Armenia and Nagorn Karabakh."