Armenia’s Accusations of Azerbaijan Occupying Its Own Territories Absurd - L. Abdullayeva

Baku / 15.06.20 / Turan: A statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry on the alleged occupation of the former Shaumyan region clearly shows that the groundless territorial claims of the aggressor country, Armenia, against Azerbaijan are not limited to the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the seven adjacent regions of Azerbaijan that are currently occupied by the Armenian armed forces. This was stated in the commentary by the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva.

The former Shaumyan region of Azerbaijan was first created in 1930 in the form of an administrative unit, that is, the Shaumyan rural region, which included mainly the territories of the former Ganja district, inhabited by Armenians. This area has never been part of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region. In 1991, by the decision of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan, it was abolished and included in the Kasum-Ismailov region, which in turn was returned the historical name of Goranboy.

The fact that the Armenian Foreign Ministry accuses Azerbaijan of occupying its own internationally recognized territories equally causes laughter and, to say the least, bewilderment, said the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

She drew attention to the fact that back in 2015, in the 30th paragraph of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the lawsuit “Sargsyan v. Azerbaijan”, the Court noted that the former Shaumyan region (Goranboy) “was declared by the NKR as part of its territory ...” . Having regard to the above arguments, the Court established in paragraphs 134 and 139 that the region is an internationally recognized territory of Azerbaijan and thus the claim of Armenia was rejected.

“This statement of the occupying country once again demonstrated to the whole world how in fact the Armenian leadership is preparing its people for peace. In general, I would like to note that the latest statements by the Armenian Foreign Ministry are aimed at escalating the already tense situation. It is difficult to say whether they are doing it consciously or out of despair, since today it is obvious that in the context of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh settlement, Armenia has been left alone. There is not a single country or a force in the world who would support or sympathize the positions of the Armenian side,” Abdullayeva emphasized. —06D-