“Unfounded allegations made by Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia at the government meeting dated 15 February are intended to deliberately inflame tension in the region,” Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The statement says: “First and foremost, referring to the actions of Azerbaijan which were taken in response to the injury of one of our servicemen as an act of aggression is a falsification of facts. It is well-known that the stability that had been prevailing for almost five months was spoiled by the provocations of Armenia on 12 February, and Armenia is accountable for this. At the same time, it would be useful to clarify why the Ministry of Defense of Armenia didn’t fulfill their commitment regarding an investigation into the injury of an Azerbaijani soldier so far, as well as on what basis the mercenaries from different military groups at the border posts of Armenia were subordinated to the Armenian Ministry of Defense.

Referring to the issue of enclave and exclave villages of Azerbaijan, another assertion of the Prime Minister of Armenia that Azerbaijan had occupied the territories of 31 villages is part of political manipulations. We would like to remind the Prime Minister, who stated in his previous statements that there are 32 such villages, that Armenia first and foremost has obligations to return 8 villages of Azerbaijan.

It would be appropriate to get an explanation why Armenia, which refers to the territorial integrity and conduct of delimitation on the basis of the borders of 1991 and the Alma-Ata Declaration, has not complied with these maps and agreements in the last 35 years, refused to accept the borders reflected in the Soviet maps, and occupied the territories of Azerbaijan.

We would like to remind the Prime Minister, who claims that Armenia supports the territorial integrity of all its neighbors, the ongoing claims against the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in Armenia’s Constitution, legislative acts in force, official letters, statements, documents distributed in international organizations and courts.

If Armenia is genuinely interested in the peace process, this country should abandon its claims against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan.”