RA FOREIGN OFFICE: AZERBAIJAN SHIRKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR ETHNIC CLEANSING

news.am
Feb 17 2010
Armenia

By claiming the Shahumyan, Martakert and Martuni regions of
Nagorno-Karabakh to be parts of Azerbaijan that state’s Foreign Office
is trying to shirk the responsibility for the ethnic cleansing and
occupation of the territories as a result of Azerbaijan’s aggression
against Nagorno-Karabakh, Tigran Balayan, Press Secretary of the RA
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told NEWS.am, commenting on a statement
made by his Azeri counterpart Elhan Polukhov, who was "indignant at"
RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian’s statement.

It would be surprising if the Azerbaijani side could produce an
international statutory act that allows ethnic cleansing justified
on the grounds that it is the "state’s own territory."

Yesterday, speaking of the consequences of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict, RA Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated: "The problem
of consequences has to be resolved along with that of causes of the
conflict. All the problems must be resolved by means of negotiations
and mutual agreements."