Six Theses Forgotten in Statement of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry issued a response statement on the speech by the Acting Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan in Paris. Former Foreign Minister Tofig Zulfugarov considers the statement of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan incomplete.

Two statements - the statement by Pashinyan and the response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan - were published by Turan IA on November 12, 2018 - "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan reminds Pashinyan of the provisions of international law" http://www.contact.az/ext/news/2018/11/free/politics%20news/76577.htm

Tofig Zulfugarov believes that if we consider the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict as a conflict arisen between the Armenian minority and the central government and characterize it as separatist, then the response of the Foreign Ministry in this logic can be considered adequate. "Actually, Pashinyan advocates such a classification of the conflict with his speech. But today, after the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been negotiating directly for 20 years, essentially demonstrating by this format that the conflict is intergovernmental and takes place on the basis of Armenia"s territorial claims to Azerbaijan, then the response of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan should have been in the same logic," Zulfugarov evaluated the Foreign Ministry"s statement for Turan IA.

To the request to point out the shortcomings in the statement of the Foreign Ministry, the ex-minister drew attention to the important political issues that the Foreign Ministry had to use in the statement.

First missed thesis: The official document requires binding the statement to the event. Pashinyan spoke with anti-Azerbaijani accusations at a forum in Paris dedicated to the centenary of the end of the First World War. Consequently, it was necessary to recall that the cause of the wars in Europe lay in the attempt to forcefully redraw the borders.

Second missed thesis: Today, Armenia is attempting to annex part of the territory of Azerbaijan by force.

Third missed thesis: 20% of the territory of Azerbaijan is occupied. A total ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population was carried out there.

Fourth missed thesis: "The new Armenian democrats," that is, Pashinyan"s so-called democratic power, continue to pursue a policy of annexing the territory of Azerbaijan, in every way trying to torpedo the peaceful negotiation process with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group.

Fifth missed thesis should have been highlighted in the statement: the Karabakh conflict is the first in the post-Soviet space. The Karabakh conflict led to the repetition, replication of the separatist armed scenario in many countries of the world.

Sixth missed thesis: In the statement, the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan had to show that the reason for what is happening lies in the inaction of the world community and the absence of sanctions against the Armenian occupier, Zulfugarov explained.

At the forum in Paris, Pashinyan said the longstanding struggle of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh for the right to determine their own destiny had not yet received a proper legal decision. "In the 21st century, it is completely unacceptable for the desire to apply the people's right to self-determination to become a threat to biological existence." "No state can build its success at the expense of the poverty of others, no one can get freedom at the expense of the slavery of others" (www.соntact.az).

Answer of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on November 12: Statements of Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Paris Peace Forum on November 11 fundamentally contradicted the policy pursued by Armenia, which violated the fundamental principles of international law, especially the principle of non-use of force, occupied the territories of Azerbaijan, depriving hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis, who historically lived in Nagorno-Karabakh, of their rights - the right to live in their homeland. The right to self-determination does not mean the right to ethnic cleansing in relation to other ethnic groups living in the same locality, and the supremacy of international law does not imply a military occupation of the territories and imposing a solution based on fait accompli.

A better future for our region and Armenia itself is closely linked with the termination of the occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan by the armed forces of Armenia and the return of all internally displaced persons to their native lands, the commentary noted.

Speaking at the same Paris Forum, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that people in the world are still subjected to violent ethnic cleansing and are expelled from their places of origin, as happened in Azerbaijan as a result of the aggression of the Armenian armed forces.