Pashinyan addresses Aliyev’s “aggressive” statements about Armenia

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, January 8 responded to a number of statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev the day before, Armenpress reports.

In an interview with Azerbaijani broadcasters on January 7, Aliyev made hostile statements against the Armenia. Pashinyan said Aliyev was perhaps attempting to form “legitimacy” for escalation in the region.

“Aggressive statements are being made with expectation that aggressive responses will be made by Yerevan, which would enable Baku to make more aggressive statements, pairing this with distribution of false statements about ceasefire violations by the Armenian Army, in order to develop a “justification” for new escalation in the region,” Pashinyan said.

“We will not take that path and we will remain committed to the strategy of peace and consistently continue the implementation of the peace agenda. This means that we will apply the language of dialogue and not aggressiveness. We will continue to be focused on delimitation, conclusion of the text of the peace treaty, implementation of the Crossroads of Peace project, humanitarian issues, including the issues of determining the fate of the missing persons.”

Aliyev also spoke about what it calls the “Zangezur Corridor”, declaring that a road corridor through Armenia connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhijevan “must and will be opened”.

Pashinyan reminded that Armenia has introduced the Crossroads of Peace project and intends to implement it.

“There is no other project in our agenda. The Crossroads of Peace implies the opening of all transport connections in the region, including Azerbaijan-Azerbaijan through the territory of Armenia, and Armenia-Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan said.

“I already had the occasion to announce that we have made a very concrete proposal to Azerbaijan on opening the Yeraskh-Sadarak-Ordubad-Meghri-Zangelan railway. It is more than a proposal, it is a concrete solution to concrete issues, and we are waiting for Azerbaijan's positive reaction, after which the agreement will be documented on paper and we will commence the construction of our sections of the railway.”

The Azerbaijani President again spoke about Armenia's armaments, saying it would only lead to new tensions in the region. Pashinyan said Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of all its neighbors, including Azerbaijan, and expects the same from Azerbaijan, meaning, a clear and unconditional recognition of the territorial integrity of Armenia.

“I have also announced that we do not have an objective of militarily returning more than 200 square kilometers of occupied territories of the Republic of Armenia, because the delimitation process allows us to address this issue through peaceful negotiations. With that being said, no one can dispute the right of the Republic of Armenia to have a defensible army. Regarding concerns about armaments, we also have concerns about Azerbaijan's armaments, and we have heard their concerns. This is the reason why we proposed to Azerbaijan to form a mutual arms control mechanism and we are waiting for their response,” he said.