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Hikmat Hajiyev: Armenia’s dirty propaganda against Azerbaijan has derailed us from path of peace treaty negotiations

06 September 2023 18:53 (UTC +04:00)

"Azerbaijan really wants to sign a peace treaty and turn the page on the chapter of confrontation and atrocities in this region. We would like to live in peace. But the ball is in the court of the Republic of Armenia," Assistant to President of Azerbaijan-Head of Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev said as he was interviewed by Arab News, APA reports.

In his response to "What remains to be done to achieve peace?" question, he noted that the sooner they understand this reality, the better it will be for everyone: "Armenia’s dirty propaganda against Azerbaijan has derailed us from the path of peace treaty negotiations, on a platform provided by Washington DC, which we very much appreciate. We had achieved very important progress. Almost 70 percent of the document had been cleared. In a sense, we agreed.

Signing the peace treaty will completely change the landscape of the region of the South Caucasus. But you have the prime minister of Armenia on one hand recognizing Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity while on the other hand he still keeps Armenian armed forces in our territory. He still finances the illegal subordinate regime on our territory."

Assistant to President of Azerbaijan commented on the former International Criminal Court prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, publishing a report describing the blockade of the Lachin corridor as genocide. Hikmet Hajiyev said that the personality, the honesty of this individual who claims to speak on behalf of justice, is questionable.

"There are a lot of facts in the international media about him engaging in wrongdoings. But that is not my business. Second, I do regret that a person who claims to be a lawyer could misuse and abuse the concept of genocide as if he didn’t know what it means. Third, he’s biased. Why does he not talk about the genocide and war crimes on a state level committed by the Republic of Armenia against Azerbaijan? Eight cities of Azerbaijan have been completely destroyed, along with the civilian population. Where is that fact in the Ocampo report? Where was Ocampo when in 1992, before Srebrenica, the whole population of Khojaly, Azerbaijan, was massacred by Armenians? Who has conducted a genocide against whom? That’s the big question. It is a question that should be answered with regard to one million Azerbaijanis, who have been ethnically cleansed from their land, and who have been living as IDPs and refugees for 30 years. Why is Ocampo silent with regard to the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, including Azerbaijan’s mosques that have been completely destroyed by Armenia?" Hikmat Hajiyev asked.