By Rashid Shirinov

The campaign carried out by the Armenian media in connection with the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s son doing military service in Karabakh has been turned into a show, Spokesman for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Hikmat Hajiyev said at a press conference on July 11.

He noted that in this way the populist government of Pashinyan is trying to maintain its rating and image in the society.

“The 100 days of Pashinyan’s government are approaching, but instead of taking serious steps to solve the aggravated social, political and economic problems during these hundred days, the Armenian government is trying to maintain its rating through populist steps,” Hajiyev said.

The spokesman added that sending Armenian citizens to do military service on the territory of Azerbaijan is another proof that Armenia is an aggressor country.

“Such actions are not constructive and do not serve to ensure peace in the region,” he stressed.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994 but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Unfortunately, peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. within the OSCE Minsk Group have produced no tangible results so far due to Armenia's unconstructive position on the issue.