Armenian people will not allow new atrocities in Artsakh: MFA spox comments on Aliyev’s statement
Azerbaijan’s promotion of the Maragha version of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict reveals the real intention of that country’s leadership to prepare the populations not to peace, but to violence against other peoples, Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan told reporters at a press briefing, commenting on the recent statement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.
“I would like to comment on the statement of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev which he made recently. Here is a quote from his speech: “the territories will be restored after their liberation as it happened with Shikharkh settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Region”. Shikharkh is the Maragha village of Nagorno Karabakh. The Azerbaijani President mentions the once prosperous, completely Armenian Maragha settlement populated by 5000 Armenians, the population of which was annihilated in 1992 by the Azerbaijani armed forces, and until this moment this settlement still remains under the Azerbaijani occupation. Now the Azerbaijani President announces that this settlement has been rebuilt and populated by Azerbaijanis. It is noteworthy that this statement of the Azerbaijani President is made in the context of the Azerbaijani approach to the NK conflict settlement and is presented as the best option and vision for the settlement”, Naghdalyan said.
Naghdalyan stated that in fact the presentation of this vision shows that Azerbaijan’s approach is that it wants Artsakh without its native people and population. “The promotion of the Maragha version of the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict reveals the real intention of the Azerbaijani leadership to prepare the populations not to peace, but to violence against other peoples. This further highlights our priority towards the issue of the physical, existential security of the Artsakh people”, the MFA spokeswoman said.
She added that Armenia and the Armenian people will not allow new atrocities, new genocidal actions in Artsakh. “Resisting this is a pan-Armenian issue which has been formed at best by the commitment assumed by the Armenian authorities before the people of Artsakh on August 5 in Stepanakert. Let’s fix this”, she said.
