“It is a known fact that Armenia had ramped up its aggressive rhetoric against Azerbaijan in recent weeks, committed provocations against armed forces of Azerbaijan on March 5 and 20, and gathered additional forces in the region. It is universally known that both during the 30-year occupation period and after 2020, Armenia, before preparing for any provocation, threw all the responsibility on Azerbaijan and committed provocations,” Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada said in his reply to the media’s question regarding the views expressed by the Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan during the government meeting on March 30, 2023.
“As for the absurd ideas voiced by Prime Minister about Azerbaijan’s alleged intention to commit an act of ethnic cleansing and “genocide”, let us note that throughout history, Azerbaijan has never targeted the civilian population despite the mass killings committed by Armenia against Azerbaijanis. Armenia’s policy and actions of terrorism and mass destruction are recorded in history with all documentation, and denying it proves that Armenia has not given up on these acts. These provocative statements of Armenia indicate its intention to deliberately disrupt the peace process against the backdrop of the revival of international efforts toward the establishment of peace in the region, and such steps must be resolutely prevented,” Hajizada added.