Armenia again understands the principles of international law in its own way, Spokesperson for Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva said, QİA.AZ reports on May 22.
Abdullayeva made the remark commenting on the statement of an official representative of the Armenian MFA, who accused the Azerbaijani side of creating tension on the border, claiming that Azerbaijan allegedly violated international law by ‘occupying the territory of Karabakh’.
“First of all, we remind the Armenian Foreign Ministry that Armenia’s violation of the fundamental principles of international law during all these years is the real reason for the absence of border demarcation between the two countries over the past 30 years,” she noted. “On the whole, we positively assess the fact that Armenia finally remembered about international law after 30 years. However, it still understands the principles of international law in its own way.”
“Armenia, accusing Azerbaijan of allegedly occupying the territories using force, still doesn’t understand that the country cannot occupy its own territory, but can only liberate it from the occupation. Armenia must realize this fact and accept the new situation,” the spokesperson further said.
“We again call on Armenia to normalize relations on the basis of the principles of international law, to which it refers, and to show constructiveness in resolving any disagreements,” added Abdullayeva.
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, 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 the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
Following over a month of military action to liberate its territories from Armenian occupation from late Sept. to early Nov. 2020, Azerbaijan has pushed Armenia to sign the surrender document. A joint statement on the matter was made by the Azerbaijani president, Armenia’s PM, and the president of Russia.
A complete ceasefire and a cessation of all hostilities in the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were introduced on Nov. 10, 2020.