13:48,
YEREVAN, MAY 31, ARMENPRESS. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia has responded to the statement made by the United States State Department spokesperson regarding the negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
“The Armenian side has always welcomed the efforts made by the US in the process of establishing peace, stability and security in the South Caucasus,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalian said in a statement on May 31. “We think it should be obvious to all our partners that in the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, both the recognition of each other's territorial integrity and inviolability of borders based on the Alma-Ata Declaration and addressing the rights and security of the people of Nagorno Karabakh are key. As we emphasized in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia on May 29, the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan cannot be interpreted as authority to carry out ethnic cleansing and arbitrariness against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is impossible not to notice that the statements made by the President of Azerbaijan on May 28 not only did not offer dignified solutions to the above-mentioned problems, but also contained clear threats to the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Armenia and the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in security and with dignity in their homeland, which the Armenian side has repeatedly raised the alarm. Our partners have been alerted about this many times. We believe that the United States, based on its own values of democracy and human rights protection and its commitment and involvement in the establishment of lasting peace in the region, should adequately respond to these statements in order to prevent the expansionist policy of the Azerbaijani leadership towards the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and attempts of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno Karabakh,” Badalian added.