January 23, 2020 - 15:23 AMT
Azerbaijan “can’t be trusted" to ensure security of any Armenian

Azerbaijan can’t be trusted with the responsibility of ensuring security to any part of the Armenian people, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said in response to a question on the 30th anniversary of the anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku.

“A number of important commemorative events were held on the 30th anniversary of the Anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku, numerous articles about the barbaric annihilation of the Armenian community in Baku were and continue to be published in the international media on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the anti-Armenian pogroms in Baku,” Naghdalyan said.

“Unfortunately, this year as well the authorities of Azerbaijan, explicitly or implicitly continued the policy of justifying the actions of the masterminders of the anti-Armenian massacres in Baku 30 years ago and the perpetrators of those massacres. Moreover, the perpetrators of the massacres against defenseless people were glorified as “shahids” by Hikmet Hajiyev, the Assistant to the President, while the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan accused Armenians themselves of perpetrating the anti-Armenian massacres in Sumgait.”

Naghdalyan said the Azerbaijani side employs tactics common among perpetrators—blaming victims for their crimes and denying any responsibility for public and systematic extermination of unarmed people in peacetime.

“This vividly illustrates once again that under no circumstances Azerbaijani authorities can be trusted with the responsibility of providing security to any part of the Armenian people. Apparently, under no circumstances Artsakh can become a part of Azerbaijan, and the people of Artsakh cannot be left without secure lines of defense,” the spokeswoman said.