Security Council Secretary says he told Aliyev his statements are received sensitively in Armenia

Armenia’s Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan addressed Azerbaijan’s decision not to participate in the COP17 conference in Yerevan, saying that it was their decision and should in no way be linked to the peace process.

Simonyan emphasized that there is currently no tension in relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, nor is any expected.

“Just as we have to explain this to our society in Armenia, the same situation applies to them when it comes to mutual visits,” Simonyan said at a press briefing.

The Security Council secretary also responded to a statement made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev the previous day on the sidelines of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), held in Baku, in which Aliyev once again used aggressive rhetoric to level unfounded accusations against the Armenian side.

“I have had the opportunity to tell President Aliyev that his statements are received very sensitively in Armenia. In our engagements, I have emphasized that if we are talking about peace, he also has an important role to play in it. He replied, ‘Okay, fine,’” Simonyan said.