“The latest interview by Armenian Ambassador to Israel Armen Smbatyan has once again confirmed the hypocritical policy of Armenia as he tried to introduce himself as a supporter of the establishment of contacts between the Azerbaijani and Armenian peoples,” said Head of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan Tural Ganjaliyev.

He noted that as one of the interested parties to the conflict, the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan had for many years been proposing a dialogue between the Armenian and Azerbaijani residents of the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. “However, the political leadership of Armenia, which has raised Azerbaijanophobia to the level of state policy, not only prevents this proposal, but also shamelessly denies the existence of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh region,” Ganjaliyev mentioned.

“If Armen Smbatyan is really in favor of a dialogue between the two peoples, then let him support the proposal of the Azerbaijani Community of Nagorno-Karabakh. But the statement that "the settlement of the conflict does not depend on us, but on the OSCE Minsk group” by the ambassador of Armenia, which occupied Azerbaijani territories, subjecting more than 1 million of Azerbaijanis to ethnic cleansing, is yet another manifestation of Armenia seeking to escape from responsibility,” Ganjaliyev said.

“The reason why the conflict has not yet been resolved is the illegal presence of Armenian troops in the territories of Azerbaijan. Armenia’s withdrawing its forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan could easily resume relations between the two peoples,” he added.