BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 20

Trend:

It's extremely strange that the Foreign Ministry of India, a country which over the past 30 years hasn't called for the withdrawal of the Armenian Armed Forces from the previously occupied territories of Azerbaijan, is now talking about the ‘withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces’, Spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.

Abdullayeva made the remark commenting on the words of the official representative of the Indian ministry in connection with the latest events on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, Trend reports.

She stressed that the main reason for the disagreements on border issues between Armenia and Azerbaijan is the illegal occupation of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia until November 2020.

"So, it’s Armenia that violates the internationally recognized borders of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is only restoring its internationally recognized borders, continues to strengthen the system of border protection within its territorial integrity, and this process is carried out on the basis of maps held by each of the parties and defining the border line between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” the spokesperson noted.

“In recent months, there have been disagreements between the parties on border issues, and all of them were resolved through negotiations between the parties to the trilateral agreement (between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia),” she further said. “Besides, it’s clear that the last statement of the Indian Foreign Ministry talking about the ‘withdrawal of troops’ was made without a comprehensive study of various aspects of the issue."

"I’d like to remind that Azerbaijan has always called and calls for sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of states. We believe that mutual respect and strict adherence to these principles is the only way to resolve any dispute and establish good-neighborly relations in the full sense of the word,” the spokesperson added. “As the current chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan has identified the promotion of the Bandung principles as one of the priorities of its chairmanship. These principles contribute to the development of justice and equality in international relations and ensure the observance of the norms and principles of international law.”

Any attempts to damage unity within the framework of the Non-Aligned Movement are unacceptable," Abdullayeva noted.

Talking about how one can be confident in Armenia's commitment to the principles of international law in the future, Abdullayeva said that unfortunately, xenophobia and intolerance stemming from it are severely gaining foothold in Armenia.

“It’s of particular concern that this tendency is directed not only against Azerbaijan, but also any people or group that has an opinion different from the views of the Armenian side," Abdullayeva noted.

She emphasized that the Nazis' accomplices are idolized and international terrorists are glorified in Armenia.

According to her, an inexplicable act of vandalism was recently committed against the monument of Mahatma Gandhi in Armenia, the world famous supporter of peace.

"Such extremism displays are dangerous and must be immediately eliminated. It’s necessary to induce Armenia to abandon such dangerous ideas as ‘national superiority’ and ‘territorial expansion’. Only after that Armenia will be able to benefit from good-neighborly relations and regional cooperation,” the spokesperson said, adding that Azerbaijan, for its part, remains committed to peace, security, regional development and cooperation based on sovereignty, territorial integrity and internationally recognized borders.