Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan – Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration, Hikmet Hajiyev gave an extensive interview to Russia’s TASS agency about the prospects of signing a peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan, international mediation and Russia-Azerbaijan relations.
Publika.az presents the interview:
– How do you assess the current tense situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia? Is there a risk of a new war?
– As you know, Azerbaijan and Armenia are negotiating the signing of a peace agreement based on the five basic principles proposed by us and accepted by Armenia.
The cornerstone of these principles is the mutual recognition of the territorial integrity of the two countries and the legal obligations to avoid making such claims in the future. Unfortunately, a number of recent actions of the Armenian leadership, including the fact that the prime minister of this country congratulated the illegal regime in Karabakh on September 2 on the occasion of “independence day”, seriously damaged the peace process.
Despite the declarative recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan by the Armenian leadership, in fact, the fact that the Armenian authorities continue to finance the illegal “separatist junta” on the territory of our country from the state budget of the Republic of Armenia, including the illegal military units consisting mainly of the servicemen of the Armenian armed forces, does not help peace. Armenian military units, as if more than one million landmines buried by Armenia in our lands until 2020 were lost on them, are carrying out massive mining of our territories along the entire perimeter of the “grey zone” in Karabakh, which Armenia nurtures. It should be noted that Armenia uses mines as a weapon of mass destruction against Azerbaijanis – more than 300 of our citizens were victims of mine terrorism in the last 44-day war of 2020 alone.
Another serious provocation is the holding of so-called “presidential elections” by the illegal regime in Khankendi on September 9. The entire international community, including the UN, as well as the countries of the region once again confirmed that these “elections”, which grossly violate the Azerbaijani legislation and are contrary to international norms, are completely illegal and illegitimate.
We are also concerned about the increasing military provocations and diversions by the Armenian armed forces on the border and in Karabakh, despite the fact that Azerbaijan is committed to the peace process and expects Armenia to return to the course of constructive negotiations. In response to your question, I would say that Azerbaijan is committed to a peaceful settlement and is not interested in increasing tensions. We call on the Armenian leadership not to obstruct the process of integration of ethnic Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan into our state and not to violate the sovereignty of our country.
– At what stage is the peace process at the moment?
– Currently, the peace process is being delayed due to the non-constructive and insincere position of the political leadership of Armenia. Under the pretext of the non-existent “blockade” of the Lachin road, a large-scale campaign of false information against Azerbaijan was launched by Armenia and the Armenian diaspora in various countries of the world, especially in the West. Despite attempts to accuse Azerbaijan of a blockade on our own sovereign territory, the opening of the Aghdam road on September 12 for the cargo of the Russian Red Cross showed that such claims are groundless. Thanks to the joint efforts of the Russian Red Cross Society and the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, the Aghdam road was opened. Now we expect that the goods of the International Committee of the Red Cross will be transported simultaneously by two routes – Aghdam and Lachin roads. Our international partners share this position and fully support it.
Now, the main obstacle for the peace process is that Armenia continues to support the illegal regime in our territory through financial and military-political means. It is the illegal regime in Khankendi that simultaneously blocks the roads of Aghdam and Lachin, refuses to accept food shipments from Azerbaijan, and justifies this with cave-racist motives that have no place in the civilized world. The lawless regime also hinders negotiations between Azerbaijan’s central authorities and the Armenian ethnic minority living in Karabakh, although Baku has repeatedly invited them to such contacts. Armenia’s policy of supporting the illegal regime in Karabakh, which holds our 30,000 citizens of Armenian origin hostage, must be stopped. There is no place for “gray zones” in Azerbaijan.
– What compromises is Baku ready to make in the dialogue with Yerevan?
– We will not discuss with Armenia or any third country issues that question the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Attempts to intervene in the internal affairs of our state, including the attempts to raise the issue of “international mechanisms” for dialogue between the central government of Azerbaijan and the Armenian ethnic minority in Karabakh, are doomed to failure. Karabakh is an internal issue of Azerbaijan, and any attempts to open a dispute around it are unconstructive in terms of achieving sustainable peace in the region.
– Can Azerbaijan use force again, as in 2020?
– I would not like to comment on hypothetical scenarios. Azerbaijan is a responsible member of the international community, it always acts in accordance with the norms of its Constitution and international law. We are in favor of peaceful resolution of all existing issues.
– What is the situation regarding the opening of transport communications in the region, which is one of the clauses of the tripartite agreement signed by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia on November 9, 2020?
-Azerbaijan consistently strives to open all transport communications in the region, because we believe that close economic and trade relations will contribute to peace, stability and progress in the region. We highly appreciate the position of the Russian Federation, which is making great efforts in this direction. However, there is currently a certain stagnation in our negotiations with Armenia on the opening of transport communications. As you know, the opening of the Zangezur Corridor, which will provide unhindered connection between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, is one of the points of the tripartite statement signed by the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia, as well as the prime minister of Armenia on the night of November 9-10, 2020. Almost three years later, this clause has not yet been fulfilled by Armenia. The opening of the Zangezur Corridor is primarily beneficial for Armenia itself, which was left out of the transport and logistics architecture in the region as a result of its three decades of aggressive policy against Azerbaijan. But if Armenia refuses to fulfill its obligations under various pretexts and wants to continue to remain in isolation, then Baku does not intend to wait and is already actively working on alternative projects with other countries of the region. We are not going to leave our logistics needs to the whims of the Armenian authorities and will move forward with our regional partners.
– In your opinion, how effective is international mediation after the 44-day Karabakh war of 2020?
– As I mentioned above, the actions of Armenia, which question the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, unfortunately overshadow the results, including the progress due to the efforts of international mediators in the matter of signing a peace agreement. We currently hope that the peace agreement will be signed by the end of this year, and we call on the Armenian political leadership to take the main step and confirm the peaceful integrity of Azerbaijan, including the Karabakh economic region of our republic, with its official signature in the peace agreement and undertake to refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of our country in the future. This also refers to our attempt to sideline our internal issues, including the issue of the interaction of our citizens of Armenian origin in Karabakh with us to the international level under the pretext of ensuring the rights and safety of this population group. They are our citizens and their safety will be ensured by the Constitution of Azerbaijan. It is important that Armenia abandons the policy of financing and inciting separatism in our country.
Regarding the activities of international mediators, we highly appreciate their contribution to Azerbaijan-Armenia relations. The role of Russia in this process, which ensured the signing of the tripartite Declaration ending large-scale military operations in November 2020 with its active mediation, is extremely important. The European Union and the United States are also contributing to the negotiation process. In general, each track in the negotiation process is unique in itself and helps to conduct a dialogue between Baku and Yerevan on the most problematic issues.
– How do you assess the current level of Russian-Azerbaijani relations?
– The Declaration on alliance cooperation between our countries, signed on February 22, 2022, raises bilateral relations to a qualitatively new stage and gives a serious impetus to their development. Our relations remain strong even in the current complex geopolitical conditions. I am sure that with joint efforts, Azerbaijan and Russia will be able to solve the most difficult regional issues, including regional issues, in the “3+3” format, which involves the resolution of the regional states. We are closely interacting in both the political and economic spheres. The data of the first half of this year show that there is a great increase in the turnover of goods, mutual tourism indicators have increased, and close cooperation in the cultural and humanitarian fields continues. A new school year begins in Azerbaijan on September 15, and as every year in our country, there is a great demand for students to study in the Russian language. Also, the interest in learning the Russian language is increasing year by year. I must note that our state, in its turn, creates all the necessary conditions for the fulfillment of this demand.
#Hikmet #Hajiyev #Azerbaijan #committed #peace #process