At the request of Armenpress, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan responded to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's statements during an interview with Azerbaijani TV stations on January 7.
- Mr. Prime Minister, the President of Azerbaijan, made aggressive statements to the Republic of Armenia in an interview with local TV stations. What is your assessment?
- Perhaps Baku is trying to create "legitimacy" for the escalation in the region. Aggressive statements are made with the expectation that Yerevan will respond aggressively, which will enable Baku to make its statements more aggressive, combining this with the spread of false information about the violation of the ceasefire regime by the Armenian army, leading to a new escalation in the region. to form a "grounding." We will not go this way; we will stick to the peace strategy and consistently continue implementing the peace agenda. This means that we will use the language of dialogue, not aggression. We will continue to focus on demarcating the peace treaty, implementing the "Crossroads of Peace" project, and clarifying the fate of the missing problems.
- The president of Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of being a fascist state. Is this also part of the logic you mentioned?
- Undoubtedly, because the calculation is that the reaction will be: you are the fascist, and the gallows I described will start to tighten. But there is another approach. Let's record that there is such a perception about Armenia and try to understand why. On the other hand, there is a similar perception of Azerbaijan. The strategy is for us to record that there is a similar perception of us in Azerbaijan and for them to record that there is a similar perception of themselves in Armenia page; with the other parts, it allows us to make all the mutual negative perceptions part of the bilateral agenda and address them.
- The president of Azerbaijan spoke again about the corridor, saying that it should be opened and will be opened. What does this mean?
- The Republic of Armenia has put the "Crossroads of Peace" project on the table and is preparing to implement it. There is no other project on our agenda. "Crossroads of Peace" implies the opening of all transport communications in the region, including Azerbaijan-Azerbaijan through Armenia and Armenia-Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan. We made a particular proposal to Azerbaijan to open the railway. It is more than a proposal; it is a concrete solution to specific issues, and we are waiting for Azerbaijan's positive response, after which the agreement reached will be put on paper. We will start the construction of our sections of the railway.
- What about yesterday, Aliyev's statement about the so-called "Western Azerbaijan"?
- Nothing new was said on this topic, so I have a new reaction. I responded to the previous ones in the last interview with Armenpress.
- The President of Azerbaijan once again discussed the armament of the Republic of Armenia, saying it would only bring new tension to the region.
- I have touched on that topic many times. There is no element of illegitimacy in the reform agenda of the Republic of Armenia. I must repeat that the Republic of Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of all its neighbors, including Azerbaijan, and expects the same from Azerbaijan. I have also announced that we do not pose the problem of returning more than 200 square kilometers of the occupied territories of Armenia by military means because the process of demarcation makes this issue possible. In a peaceful, negotiated way, no one can dispute the right of the Republic of Armenia to have a defensive army. We also have concerns about Azerbaijan's armaments. We proposed that Azerbaijan form a mutual control mechanism, and we are waiting for their answer.
- In recent days, Azerbaijan has spread information several times that the Armenian army has violated the ceasefire regime on the Armenia-Azerbaijani border; the Ministry of Defense of Armenia has denied this information, reminding to create a joint mechanism for investigating cases of ceasefire violations about the offer.
- Of course, the information about our army's violation of the ceasefire regime does not correspond to reality. However, to avoid making such situations a reason for periodic debates, we have proposed creating a joint mechanism to check every alarm regarding the violation of the ceasefire regime. We are waiting for Azerbaijan's response.
- Ilham Aliyev also said that the next meeting of the demarcation commissions will take place in January.
- Yes, a meeting is planned in January. The positive experience of demarcation in 2024 should be developed in a calm working environment.
