Official: If Armenia shows serious loyalty, peace is possible

By Sara Ganjiyeva

The conclusion of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia is possible if Armenia demonstrates a serious commitment to peace and a constructive position in the peace process, Elchin Amirbayov, representative of the President of Azerbaijan on special tasks, said this in an interview with the "Adnkronos" news agency during his business trip to Italy, Azernews reports.

He noted that it is possible to achieve peace and tranquility in the region if Armenia stops imitating its participation in the peace process and resumes constructive work on the draft peace agreement that Azerbaijan submitted to it more than a year ago and is based on the five main principles of international law.

The representative of the President of Azerbaijan emphasized that the positive outcome of the negotiations will, unfortunately, depend on the level of sincerity of the Armenian authorities, which today adhere to the dual approach: "On the one hand, they are talking about the desire to complete the work on the peace agreement, and on the other hand, they have started a diplomatic war against Azerbaijan."

According to E. Amirbeyov, the Armenian authorities abuse various international platforms, for example, the UN Security Council, the European Parliament, and even the European Union itself. Thus, the official Yerevan diverts the attention of all interested parties from the main road leading to peace and makes the process deadlocked. "However, Official Baku does not put forward any conditions for reaching an agreement," he added.

"However, I think that in order to reach a final agreement, Armenia should demonstrate that it respects the obligations it has already undertaken and will fulfill the promises made in the past. "I think that Armenia should resume negotiations on the draft peace agreement, but stop trying to achieve its narrow political goals in parallel directions at the highest level and with the help of its allies," he said.

The president's representative considered the claims of the Armenian side about alleged ethnic cleansing and genocide in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan to be completely groundless, accused Yerevan of trivializing these concepts, and emphasized that the facts in the said region show the exact opposite.

"At the beginning of the 90s of the last century, Armenia carried out a total ethnic cleansing against the Azerbaijani population in all the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. As for the act of genocide, it was carried out by Armenia on February 26, 1992, when the city of Khojaly, inhabited by Azerbaijanis, was completely razed to the ground. population, including women, the elderly, and children, were killed. Imagine, 613 Azerbaijanis were killed there in one night. However, Azerbaijan respects the rights of all residents of the country, including ethnic Armenians living in the Karabakh region," the Azerbaijani official said.

He also spoke about the large-scale restoration work carried out by the Azerbaijani government in the territories liberated from the 30-year Armenian occupation, and that the country's government has already spent more than 7 billion US dollars.

E. Amirbeyov also spoke in detail about one of the main problems faced by Azerbaijan during the post-conflict reconstruction - the unprecedented pollution of the liberated territories with various types of mines and unexploded military ammunition.

"Armenia has installed about 1.5 million landmines, and the number of victims on the Azerbaijani side is constantly increasing. "Today, after the ceasefire, the number of victims of mine terrorism in Azerbaijan is 337," he said.