Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said today that Ilham Aliyev’s statements once again prove that the geopolitical ambitions of the Azerbaijani authorities continue to be a threat to the security and stability of the South Caucasus and the region.

“With its untargeted speeches addressed to the international community and targeted speeches full of threats addressed to Armenia, Ilham Aliyev is trying to blame Armenia and our government for not fulfilling the agreements.

The leader of Azerbaijan speaks out about his ambitions for the sovereign territory of Armenia, with the threatening use of a number of Armenian place names and other names, with an obvious aim to terrorize the civilian population.

To date, Azerbaijan has not taken steps to start a dialogue with the representatives of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh visible to the international community, a commitment it assumed in a number of international platforms,” Nikol Pashinyan said at the cabinet sitting.

He noted that Azerbaijan is trying to appear constructive and declares that Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are “their citizens” and their rights and security are guaranteed.

“Such statements make it obvious that Aliyev not only threatens, but also prepares the genocide of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. This intention is also expressed in the comments of the President of Azerbaijan about the terms of deployment of the Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh, which violate at least 3 of the statements adopted in trilateral format. The November 9, 2020 statement records that peacekeepers are deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh for a period of 5 years, with the automatic extension for the next 5 years. This, in fact, means that the peacekeepers are deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh indefinitely, until all issues related to the rights and security of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are addressed, and all security concerns of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are resolved,” Nikol Pashinyan said.

According to him, the Azerbaijani president is trying to create fictitious grounds to close the Lachin Corridor allegedly for the failure of Armenia to fulfill its commitments and to encircle the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and to commit genocide and deprive them of their homeland.

“The Azerbaijani president refuses the proposal to build new communications, which Armenia presented in writing back in 2021. The president of Azerbaijan himself refutes the option to postpone indefinitely the issue of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Why does Azerbaijan bring the process to a dead end every time? For the simple reason – to continue its aggressive genocide policy. As part of preparations for the genocide of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani president accuses Armenia of having an army in Nagorno-Karabakh, while Armenia does not have an army there. There is a Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, which is a serious obstacle for Azerbaijan to bring to life its genocidal policy. During the meeting in Sochi, I presented the proposal of the NK authorities, that is, to create a demilitarized zone around NK with international guarantees, as a result of which NK may not need to have a Defense Army of such a scale. This offer is valid,” he said.

Nikol Pashinyan noted that a demilitarization proposal was also made for the Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone. It offered to withdraw the troops from the border reestablished in 1991, creating a 3-kilometer demilitarized zone on both sides of the border, that proposal still remains in force and the Armenian side conveyed its updated version to the Azerbaijani side a day before.

Summing up his speech, Nikol Pashinyan said that Armenia is faithful to all reached commitments and agreements.

“We will make every effort within our power to complete the delimitation of the Armenia-Azerbaijan borders as quickly as possible, to unblock all regional transport and economic links, and sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan as soon as possible. We are truly committed to the peace agenda. But this agenda is not the annihilation of Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. The peace agenda is the peaceful development of Armenia and the region, coexistence, and we will achieve our goal,” Pashinyan said.