Armenia will never be completely independent without normalizing ties with Azerbaijan

By  Trend

Armenia’s leadership must understand that this country will never be completely independent without normalizing the relations with Azerbaijan, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said.

Abdullayeva was commenting on Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statement in the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament, Trend reports on March 5.

“During his speech at the European Parliament, the Armenian prime minister stressed that he is not delivering speech on behalf of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the future of the Nagorno-Karabakh region must be determined by the people living there,” she said. “I would like to ask if it is so, what do young people who are Armenian citizens do in other country’s territories, that is, in the occupied Azerbaijani territories?”

“Why do these young people die? Such unreasonable appeals made by the Armenian prime minister deceive not only the world community, but also the Armenians living worldwide, in Armenia and in Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region," Abdullayeva added.

“If Nikol Pashinyan is sincere by saying that the region "needs to establish a new dialogue, peaceful coexistence and economic development", then he must understand that the only way to achieve what he has listed is withdrawal the Armenian armed forces from the occupied Azerbaijani territories and the return of Azerbaijani internally displaced people to these territories,” she added.

“Armenia’s leadership must understand that this country will never be completely independent without normalizing the relations with Azerbaijan,” Abdullayeva said.

"The Armenian leadership, declaring its democratic election, must be conscientious at least towards itself and its people and answer such a question,” she added. “What did Armenia and the Armenian people achieve as a result of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan will not voice the answer to this simple question, but wants to hear it from the Armenian leadership."

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.