Baku, July 28, AZERTAC
“The views expressed once again by Maria Zakharova, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, regarding the former Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict are a distortion of reality,” said Aykhan Hajizade, Spokesperson for Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in response to a local media inquiry regarding the comments of the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation on the issue of Garabagh region and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).
“The Garabagh region has always been recognized by the international community, including the Russian Federation, as an integral part of Azerbaijan. Therefore, attempts to continuously keep on the agenda the issue of applying CSTO mechanisms to the sovereign territories of Azerbaijan, which had been under Armenia’s occupation for nearly 30 years, and to associate this with whether or not the Garabagh region had been recognized by Armenia, are not only entirely groundless but also contradict Russia’s own official position regarding Azerbaijan’s Garabagh region.
Azerbaijan has restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty in accordance with international law, thereby resolving the former conflict. In this context, the practice of commenting on issues pertaining to Russia-Armenia relations by associating it with Azerbaijan should be ended,” Hajizade added.