Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan has commented on Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s speech at the Valdai conference.
Foreign ministry responds to Aliyev’s latest speech
STEPANAKERT, OCTOBER 4, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: “We have to note that the Azerbaijani president’s speech contained nothing new. The maximalist stance adopted by Azerbaijan, which is the constant and main threat to the peace process, continues to remain unchanged despite the latest agreements achieved by the parties which imply preparing the populations to peace. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s suggested formula that the settlement should be acceptable for the peoples of Armenia, Artsakh and Azerbaijan was directed at the goal of bringing this very commitment of preparing the peoples for peace to a more practical arena. This formula is directed at making the idea of compromise acceptable for all parties, involving the societies in the development of atmosphere conducive to peace, as well as stipulating the leaders’ responsibility and accountability before their own peoples.
Answering to this proposal of the Armenian side the Azerbaijani president made no reference to the need of peaceful settlement for the region’s peoples, and even questioned the fact of the Artsakh people’s existence living in their own historic homeland.
As a justification for its maximalist approach in the NK conflict Azerbaijan has always initiated dehumanizing rhetoric of the Artsakh people and generally the Armenian people. A manifestation of this dehumanization was the clemency and glorification of Ramil Safarov by the Azerbaijani president, the atrocities committed against the peaceful population and servicemen during the Azerbaijani April [2016] aggression against Artsakh, the depopulation of Armenians in territories of Artsakh occupied by Azerbaijan and the elimination of historic Armenian presence and trace in Azerbaijani territory. Azerbaijan’s maximalist approaches and dehumanization of Artsakh people create an existential security threat for the people of Artsakh. Effectively withstanding this is a pan-Armenian objective, which is best termed with the Armenian authorities’ commitment assumed before the people of Artsakh on August 5 in Stepanakert.
Armenia is certain that the peaceful resolution of the issue and the victory of democracy in the region have no alternative and from this perspective attaches importance to the implementation of the commitment on preparing the populations to peace”, Naghdalyan said.
