Violator of the trilateral agreement is Armenia, not Azerbaijan – statement of the Foreign Ministry

Baku/04.08.22/Turan: Accusations against Azerbaijan about the violation of the trilateral declaration of November 10, 2020 are hypocrisy. This is how the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reacted to yesterday's statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry due to the fighting in Karabakh.

Baku has repeatedly emphasized that Armenia does not comply with the provisions of the trilateral declaration, and so far the Armenian armed formations have not been withdrawn from the Azerbaijani territory.

According to Article 4 of the trilateral declaration, "the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is deployed in parallel with the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces."

In addition to numerous evidences of the presence of illegal Armenian armed formations on the territory of Azerbaijan, this fact was also recognized by Armenian officials.

So, on June 29 of this year, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces Sahak Sahakyan said that in the Karabakh region the conscripts will be replaced by "contract soldiers".

Besides, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan said in an interview with the media on July 19 that "the withdrawal of units of the Armenian armed forces from Karabakh will be completed in September this year."

That is, contrary to the commitments made, Armenia still illegally keeps its military formations on the territory of a neighboring state.

"The reason for the recent tension is the presence of illegal Armenian armed formations on the territory of Azerbaijan and their provocations," the statement said.

"The bloody provocation that resulted in the death of an Azerbaijani soldier on August 3 is precisely the result of Armenia's failure to fulfill its obligations," the document says.

In accordance with paragraph 6 of the trilateral statement, Azerbaijan has been building a new road along the Lachin corridor for many months and the Armenian side is sufficiently informed about this. The Armenian side, under various pretexts, seeks to "delay" this process, which indicates an unconstructive position of Yerevan.

Armenia has occupied the territories of the neighboring state for almost 30 years and has not yet withdrawn its illegal armed formations from the Azerbaijani territories. Azerbaijan ensures the security and integrity of its territory on legal grounds," the statement of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry reads in conclusion.—06B-