The spokesperson noted that the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights on “Saribekyan and Balayan vs Azerbaijan” case of 30 January 2020 is not a final decision, and the Azerbaijani side has the right to bring the case to the Grand Chamber within 3 months.

“Currently this issue is being examined by our side. Let me stress that the decision was not taken unanimously and the Azerbaijani judge Latif Huseynov presented special opinion in this regard,” she said.

Abdullayeva reminded that Armenian citizen Manvel Saribekyan was detained on September 11, 2010, with several espionage equipment, while a group of Armenian saboteurs were prevented on the north-west direction of the line of contact of the armed forces of Armenia and Azerbaijan. “On October 5, he committed suicide, and a criminal case was launched at the Baku Military Prosecutor's Office.”

The spokesperson stressed that the Armenian policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis living in the territory of present-day Armenia was further aggravated in the late 1980s and forced expulsion reached its culmination by violent deportation of Azerbaijanis from the Gafan region in 1988-89.

“By military occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding 7 districts of Azerbaijan, Armenia perpetrated ethnic cleansing against the Azerbaijanis residing in these territories and hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis became internally displaced persons. The cruelty of the armed forces of Armenia targeting the civilian population during the aggression and the brutally killing of 613 Azerbaijani civilians only in one night on February 26, 1992 in Khojaly town is firmly condemned by international community and recognized as genocide,” Abdullayeva said. “As a result of the Armenian aggression, 3889 Azerbaijanis went missing and hundreds of people held in Armenian captivity died as a result of severe tortures.”

“We remind the Armenian MFA that exactly the ECHR ruling of “Chiragov and others vs Armenia” of 16 June 2015 affirmed the responsibility of Armenia for aggression against Azerbaijan and it was confirmed that the illegal regime in our occupied territories “survives by virtue of the military, political, financial and other support given to it by Armenia,” she added.

Abdullayeva pointed out that the Armenian Foreign Ministry’s statement is completely contradictory with the joint statements calling for the preparation of populations of both countries for peace, adopted by Yerevan as well, and it reveals the true intentions of the Armenian leadership.  

More about: MFA   Leyla-Abdullayeva