Armenia and Azerbaijan accuse each other of violating peace agreement

The Armenian Foreign Minister had no right to visit Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) claims. Yerevan refused to recognize the above event as a violation of the peace agreement and voiced counter-accusations of conducting military operations in the conflict zone.

The Azerbaijani side has violated and continues to violate a number of "key provisions" of the trilateral declaration on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"), signed on November 9, 2020, claims Anna Nagdalyan, the press secretary for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

So, the parties were to stop at their positions, Anna Nagdalyan noted. "Meanwhile, more than a month after the establishment of the ceasefire regime, the Azerbaijani side conducted military operations in the direction of the villages of Stary Takher and Khtsaberd in the Gadrut District of Artsakh and took Armenian soldiers prisoner of war," the press secretary for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.

Anna Nagdalyan also responded to the Baku's protest against the meeting of Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazyan with his newly appointed Karabakh counterpart David Babayan, which took place on January 5. In Stepanakert, the Ministers signed a plan of consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. "The declaration of November 9 does not impose any restrictions on contacts between Armenia and Artsakh at different levels," the press secretary for the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized.

In turn, Leyla Abdullaeva, the chief of the press service for the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has claimed that the Ara Aivazyan's trip to Nagorno-Karabakh, considered by Azerbaijan as its territory, contradicts the peace agreement signed on November 9, 2020.

"Violation of the mentioned obligations by official Yerevan is a provocation, and such actions aimed at the internal audience do not serve to normalize the situation in the region. Armenian officials should not be guided by some unfounded fantasies, but should accept a new reality in the region," emphasized Leyla Abdullaeva as quoted on January 5 by the "Anadolu" news agency.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on January 7, 2021 at 07:25 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.