No:326/24, Response by Aykhan Hajizada, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to local media inquiries concerning the views of the Foreign Minister of Armenia regarding the “peace agreement” and communications
Question: On 9 September, at a joint press conference with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Luxembourg, Ararat Mirzoyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia stated that the text of the draft “peace agreement” that Armenia had recently submitted to Azerbaijan was fully agreed upon and contains the agreed-upon provisions. He further stated that Armenia has no intention to give to any third party an authority over any roads that passes through its territories. Simultaneously, it was noted that the topic of involving a foreign private company in both countries to guarantee the secure passage of goods and passengers was discussed. We would like to know your comments regarding these opinions of Armenia.
Answer: Regretfully, Armenia is once again seeking to mislead the public opinion about the real situation.
Armenia sent her remarks on the commentary submitted by Azerbaijan in June over the text of the draft bilateral Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia at the end of August, about 70 days later.
Instead of adequately reacting to the commentary made by Azerbaijan, Armenia tried to turn a blind eye to the challenges by removing the necessary provisions that are necessary to be reflected in the draft. Even though 80% of the provisions have been agreed upon so far, not all of the draft’s provisions have been able to be agreed upon. However, this does not mean that an agreement should be signed by removing the non-agreed provisions from the draft, as Armenia suggested. This cannot be considered acceptable. For the peace agreement to be sustainable and successful, problematic issues between the two countries in a number of directions must be clarified in the draft.
While continuing its territorial claims against Azerbaijan and trying to restore the work of the Minsk Group, a remnant of the past conflict, Armenia’s call for the “peace agreement” to be signed in any form by reducing the scope of the text raises many questions about this country’s true intentions.
To sign a draft agreement, first of all, Armenia has to make appropriate amendments to its Constitution, which currently refers to its territorial claims against our country.
Although Armenia is aware of its written and signed obligations on the opening of communications connecting the western regions of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, it has not fulfilled them for the last four years. Regarding the views on the involvement of a foreign private company in the process in both countries, it should be noted that Azerbaijan has never discussed the involvement in the process of a third party in its territories. If the Armenian side is actually interested in opening up of communications in the region, it must fulfill its obligations.