Referring to the Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan Sunday called on Armenia "to accept the reality" that emerged as a result of the 44-day conflict between the two countries and refrain from chosing "aggressive steps and revanchist policies."
Baku was the victor of the Karabakh conflict with Armenia but tensions remain high between the two neighbors.
"To label the return of Azerbaijani IDPs (internally displaced persons) to their homes as a ‘violation’ of the Trilateral Statement and ‘illegal settlement’ is yet another clear manifestation of hypocrisy by Armenia," Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said in a statement, in response to a statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry the previous day. Hajizada said that Armenia has acted in violation of international law and four U.N. Security Council resolutions by occupying Azerbaijani lands for nearly 30 years, and also 'forcibly expelled about 1 million Azerbaijanis from their homelands, and brutally destroyed all Azerbaijani historical and religious monuments in the region.'This statement demonstrates Armenia's feature of racial discrimination and hatred," he added.
The spokesperson also said that the Yerevan statement, referring to Azerbaijani settlements with "fictional names," is "another manifestation of Armenia's territorial claims against Azerbaijan." It said that Armenia’s claim that Azerbaijan is not interested in a peace agreement is "another obvious example of deception." "With such statements, Armenia is trying to cover up its artificial delaying of the peace treaty negotiation process, as well as its recent blow to the process by refusing to attend the next round of negotiations in December 2022," the statement added.
The official communique further said that Armenia is "interfering" with the process of the reintegration of the Armenian residents in the Karabakh region through "provocations," calling on the political leadership of Armenia to "act responsibly, to refrain from provocations, statements, and false rhetoric that undermine the opportunities for peace created in the region after the 44-day war."
Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan had been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan – and seven adjacent regions.
In the fall of 2020, during 44 days of heavy fighting, Azerbaijan liberated a significant part of Karabakh and a Russian-brokered peace agreement was subsequently signed, considered a triumph in Baku.
Armenia announced last week that it would appeal to the international community to prevent what it claimed was "genocide" in Karabakh. It claimed that an Azerbaijani blockade of the only land link between Karabakh and Armenia has spurred a humanitarian crisis there. Baku has denied the accusations.
Last week, Azerbaijan accused Armenia of spreading a "false and slanderous statement" about remarks by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at Thursday's session of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Ankara. In a statement on its website, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said Armenia "aims at covering up the occupation policy" carried out for nearly 30 years, as well as "the provocations it committed and may commit in the future against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis during the current post-conflict period."
"Presenting the facts of purposeful destruction of hundreds of our cities and villages, historical and religious monuments by Armenia during the 30-year occupation; the plundering of our natural resources; the disappearance of nearly 4,000 of our citizens and the discovery of mass graves; Armenia's continued mine threats; failure to completely remove the Armenian armed forces from the territories of Azerbaijan contrary to territorial integrity and sovereignty ... obstructing the opening of the Zangezur corridor; ethnic cleansing against the Azerbaijani population in Armenia and the demand for the safe and dignified return of the Western Azerbaijan Community to their native lands, as a "territorial claim" and "preparation for aggression" against Armenia, is completely groundless," the ministry said.
The ministry stressed Armenia violates international law when "carrying out 'Armenization' of the historical lands of Azerbaijan, to present Azerbaijan's use of the term Western Azerbaijan Community."
"Armenia, which plundered nine cities and hundreds of villages during a nearly 30-year occupation period, carried out ethnic cleansing against almost 1 million Azerbaijanis, deprived them of the right to return to their homes, has no moral right to talk about the rights of internally displaced persons and refugees after Azerbaijan liberated its native lands and restored these territories," it said.
The ministry said Azerbaijan is already "taking steps toward the reintegration of Armenian residents living in its territory." "Azerbaijan conducts dialogue with Armenian residents, and as a goodwill step has proposed to hold the next meeting in Baku. On the contrary, the Armenian side completely rejected the dialogue proposal of the Western Azerbaijan Community. This is an indication that Armenia is not interested in peace and stability in the region and is conducting a duplicitous policy," it said.
The ministry pledged to take "all necessary steps within the framework of international law against any provocation by Armenia."