Armenian side has firm political will to sign peace treaty in near future: Marukyan's response to Azeri official

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenia's Ambassador at-LargeEdmon Marukyan responded to the article of Ambassador at-large of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan Parvin Mirzazade, in which the latter referred to Marukyan and a number of his posts on Twitter.

In his response Marukyan expressed confidence that there is a path to long-term and stable peace in the region, and that is the withdrawal of Azerbaijani servicemen from Armenia’s sovereign territory, the return of all Armenian prisoners of war and persons held, the implementation of delimitation in accordance with the 1991 Alma-Ata declaration and protocol, the opening of communications based on the sovereignty of the sides, as well as the guarantee of the security, rights and freedom of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh.

“At the same time threats and violence cannot be a path to peace. Although the threats directed against the Armenian people are passing through a red line in your entire article, which is especially highlighted by an “attractive” headline. I would like to remind that quite recently President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed the Sochi trilateral statement, within the frames of which he agreed to refrain from the use of force and threat of force. I am deeply disappointed that already today your statements have gone beyond the scope of the agreements which your government has reached. I also regret that despite the 33 years of work in the ministry of foreign affairs, you tend to make contradictory conclusions. On the one hand, you speak about respect to older people, which is accepted in the Caucasus, on the other hand, you reserve the right to make personal insults. As the classic said “if you want respect, do not start from insults”. Lying, which is sometimes beyond any imagination, is often one of the tools you use in your judgments. Under the guise of revanchism, lack of pacifism and other fabricated accusations you are hiding your hunger to justify the new military aggression of your leadership. Under the same guise you are trying to hide the massacres of tens of thousands of Armenians in Sumgait and Baku which were accompanied by mass killings, looting and arson. You are also trying to make forgotten the constant violence against the peaceful population of Nagorno Karabakh, as it happened during the aggressions registered during the escalations of the conflict in 2016 and 2020. You are trying to hide the killing of civilians, the holding and shooting of prisoners of war, mocking of the corpses of fallen servicemen and civilians, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, the appropriation and desecration of cultural and historical heritage under the words about international law. It seems, in such atmosphere your constant attempts to distort history and completely rewrite it have developed, with the special aim of appropriating the Armenian cities and territories.

I also would like to emphasize the complete dissonance of your article when you make judgments about the term “sovereignty”. On the one hand, for you, the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan are clearly recognized and clear when it comes to the rights of the people of Artsakh, on the other hand there is a need for delimitation and demarcation of that borders when it comes to the military aggression of Azerbaijan against Armenia’s sovereign territories. Does it happen like that?” Marukyan said in his response letter.

He repeated that there is a border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which, as it has been repeatedly confirmed, must be delimited and demarcated in accordance with the 1991 Alma-Ata declaration and protocols. He reminded that the border delimitation joint commission is working actively on this direction. As for the Nagorno Karabakh issue, Marukyan said it’s obvious this issue has never had a nature of a territorial dispute.

“In conclusion, I would like to state once again that the path to peace is difficult, but that path exists. Hatred, violence, lie and threats are opposed to peace, life, truth and bright future. The Armenian nation has carried the cross of peacekeeping and justice for centuries and is not going to give up its path today. I believe in peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan if there is a clear political will to implement all agreements and sign a peace treaty. I can surely state that the Armenian side has a firm political will to implement all agreements and sign a peace treaty in the near future. Let’s see if Azerbaijan has that political will”, Marukyan said.