Armenia is trying to evade obligations assumed– J. Bayramov

Baku/02.12.22/Turan: Azerbaijan is determined to reintegrate citizens of Armenian origin living in post-conflict territories into its political, social and economic space, granting them the same rights and freedoms that all Azerbaijani citizens have. This was stated on December 1 by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov at the 29th meeting of the OSCE member-states' Foreign Ministries in the Polish city of Lodz.

The Constitution of Azerbaijan provides a solid legal basis for this. "The dialogue and ties that have been strengthened in recent months between Azerbaijani government officials and local ethnic Armenians should be maintained and stable," Bayramov further noted.

Touching upon the post-conflict reconstruction, the Foreign Minister pointed out that the main obstacle to this is the contamination of the liberated territories by mines buried by the Armenian side.

After the end of the war in 2020, 268 people became victims of mines, 45 of which died, including 35 civilians.

"Armenia's inability to provide Azerbaijan with complete and accurate maps of minefields in the liberated territories leads to new deaths and injuries. About 55% of all mine incidents occur in areas where Armenia provides no information about minefields. 

Instead, Armenia continues the spontaneous burial of mines on the territory of Azerbaijan. Recently, 350 mines were discovered on the territory of Azerbaijan. All of them were produced in Armenia in 2021. 

In total, more than 2.700 mines produced in Armenia in 2021 were found on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. These mines were transported along the Lachin corridor. This is an open exploitation of a corridor intended for humanitarian purposes," Bayramov continued.

Azerbaijan offered Armenia peace within the state borders on the basis of mutual recognition and respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity. At the summit meetings held this year in Brussels, Prague and Sochi, both sides confirmed mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of each other's borders.

"I had three meetings with the Armenian Foreign Minister to discuss the preparation of a bilateral treaty on interstate relations. At our last meeting in Washington on November 7, 2022, we agreed to accelerate negotiations. Azerbaijan has already submitted a number of comments to Armenia over the draft agreement," Bayramov further said.

Azerbaijan proposes to agree on a legally binding document that lays the foundation for interstate relations. This document guarantees the rights of two equal sovereign states and is the basis for resolving all issues of mutual interest, Bayramov stressed.

However Armenia is faithful to the tactics of imitating the peace process and is trying to evade the fulfillment of its obligations. "Armenia has not yet completely withdrawn its illegal armed formations from the territory of Azerbaijan.

Armenia is artificially delaying the restoration of transport links between Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, including by denying unhindered access. Instead, Armenia has launched a smear campaign against Azerbaijan in order to divert attention from non-compliance with its obligations," Bayramov continued.

Baku is also concerned about attempts of "some third parties to incite Armenia's revanchist behavior" which contributes to the intensification of military provocations and bellicose rhetoric.

Bayramov also criticized the dispatch of the "OSCE needs assessment mission" to Armenia in defiance of the principle of consensus in the organization when making decisions". 

To his thinking, this is a blatant violation of the mandate adopted by the collective will of all participating states.- 06B-