No:169/21, Head of the Press Service Department of the MFA of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva responds to the questions of media

Question: Can you comment on the allegations of Armenia about the recent tension on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border and claims as if Azerbaijan violated the “sovereign territory” of Armenia?

Answer: These claims are absolutely baseless. The MFA of Azerbaijan released information and brought clarity to the situation on the border tension between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Firstly, let me emphasize that the root cause of the border issues is Armenia’s illegal occupation of Azerbaijan’s territories till November 2020. Hence, it is Armenia that violated Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized borders. Azerbaijan is only restoring its internationally recognized borders.

As it has already been stated in our official releases, with the improvement of weather conditions in the liberated regions of Azerbaijan that border with Armenia, Azerbaijan continues its work on the border protection system carried out within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. This process is carried out on the basis of maps available to each of the sides that define the borderline between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

We always stand for the respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of the internationally recognized borders.

Certainly, mutual respect for these principles, establishing good neighborly relations on this basis and embarking on the border delimitation/demarcation process in good faith is the only way forward to settle any dispute that might arise.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have newly emerged from the war and successful border demarcation and delimitation are key to peace and security.

Let me also stress that over the last months several disagreements occurred between the sides on border issues, and all of them were settled via negotiations among the sides to the trilateral statements. We believe that such disagreements should be resolved via political and diplomatic means.

Question: Some members of the international community also reacted to the latest border tension, how would you comment on these statements?

Answer: The border demarcation and delimitation is a bilateral issue, it is quite a complicated and technical process. Of course, we understand the concerns of third countries over the situation in the region, which is about eliminating the aggravation of tensions. We believe that before making any statements on such a sensitive issue, all root causes and dimensions must be examined thoroughly.