Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's repetition of the allegations about "the tense humanitarian situation" in the region has no grounds, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said, AzVision.az reports.
The ministry made the remark responding to the claims made by Pashinyan at Armenian government meeting on August 11.
According to the ministry, Pashinyan's calling non-admission of goods sent by Armenia under the guise of "humanitarian cargo" in the direction of Lachin as "ethnic cleansing" against Armenian residents, also has no grounds.
"The leader of a country that committed massacres of Azerbaijanis during the occupation of nearly 20 percent of Azerbaijan's lands and conducted ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis not only on those lands but also within the territory of Armenia, has no moral right to speak about the 'ethnic cleansing'," the ministry emphasized.
Armenia's persistent repetition of these claims shows the country's worry of preventing its unlawful activities, carried out through the Lachin-Khankendi road before the establishment of the Lachin border crossing point, the ministry noted.
"If Armenian residents of Karabakh indeed require everyday goods, as they assert, the Aghdam-Khankendi road proposed by Azerbaijan and supported by international partners can meet this purpose," the ministry pointed out.
"Instead of spreading allegations about "humanitarian crisis" and committing provocations against Azerbaijan's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Armenia should strive for peace and stability in the region," the ministry concluded.
In order to prevent the transportation of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other military equipment from Armenia for illegal Armenian armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan (which weren't withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020 signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the second Karabakh war), and as an adequate response to the unilateral establishment of a border checkpoint by Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan on April 22, 2023, at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road contrary to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, on April 23 this year, the units of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan set up a border checkpoint in its sovereign territories, on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road.
Despite the fact that Azerbaijan ensured the passage of Armenian residents, representatives of ICRC and the Russian peacekeeping contingent (temporarily stationed in Azerbaijan under the trilateral statement) through the border crossing, the Armenian side spread false allegations about the alleged "tense humanitarian situation" in the region in order to continue its illegal activities in Azerbaijani territories.
At the same time, the Armenian side committed provocations, such as shelling Azerbaijani border guards on June 15, an attempt at smuggling, sending trucks to the territory of Azerbaijan on July 26 without permission.
Moreover, despite the fact that Azerbaijan put forward a number of proposals for meeting the needs of Armenian residents of Karabakh, including the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road and other alternative roads, and they were supported by the European Union and the ICRC, the Armenian side opposes these proposals and blocked the entrance to the territory by erecting concrete barriers on alternative roads. All this once again showed that its statements about the "humanitarian situation" are political blackmail.
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