“The claims that an agreement was reached on the creation of international mechanisms related to the rights and security of Karabakh Armenians are false.” Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan – Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, informed the local media about the statement which was made by Armenia’s Secretary of Security Council Armen Grigoryan, who claimed alleged agreement on the creation of international mechanisms for the rights and security of Armenians living in Karabakh.
He stressed with regret that the essence of the discussions conducted by the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia was unilaterally distorted: “In an interview I gave to the Azerbaijani media on October 13th 2022, I gave detailed information about the content and nature of the discussions held in Washington. I would like to note once again that allegedly in Washington in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Statements about reaching an agreement on the establishment of international mechanisms for the rights and security of Armenian residents are false. Raising any issue in the negotiations does not mean that an agreement has been reached on this issue. During the meeting held at the White House organized by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Washington D.C. on 27 September 2022, we once again stated that Azerbaijan will not discuss the issue of the rights and security of the Armenians living in the Karabakh region is an internal affair of Azerbaijan. As the head of our state said, the Armenians living in Karabakh are citizens of our country. Both in Brussels and Washington, representatives of Azerbaijan emphasized that Baku would not discuss issues pertaining to the sovereign rights of our country with any third party. The issue of rights and security of Karabakh Armenians will be resolved under the Constitution of Azerbaijan, laws and international commitments of our state. As a responsible member of the international community, after a certain period of time Azerbaijan may inform international partners about the ongoing dialogue with its citizens, but only as a display of good will and an example of transparency.”
During the meeting, it was once again mentioned that the US representative respects the sovereignty of Azerbaijan.
Hikmet Hajiyev stressed that, there is not and cannot be any question of establishing any international “mechanism” designed to control the rights and security of the Armenian residents of the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Sovereignty is the red line of our state’s policy, and international partners should treat this just position with understanding and respect. Contrary to the statements made in Prague and Sochi, the Armenian officials statements about the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan are regarded as an attack on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan: “These and other contradictory statements made by the Armenian officials recently and further the unnecessary new elements that have been introduced show the intention of the Armenian side to deliberately disrupt the negotiations on the peace agreement and only create an imitation of negotiations. We recommend the Armenian side to give up such destructive policy and to seriously participate in the peace agreement negotiations by demonstrating political will to ensure sustainable peace and security in the region. we do”.
In conclusion, I would like to point out that we regard distorting the nature of the negotiations, speaking from the position of personal considerations, using all kinds of manipulations and juggling of definitions as unacceptable.
Adil Adilzade
