Foreign media
The international community must put pressure on Armenia, which has kept the Azerbaijani territories under the occupation.
Azerbaijani Ambassador to Japan Gursel Ismayilzade spoke about it in his interview with the Japanese “Mainichi Shimbun” newspaper. The diplomat added that the negotiations, which have been held within the OSCE Minsk Group, did not yield any result due to the unconstructive position of the Armenian leadership. On the contrary, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power in 2018 made such a statement following his visit to the occupied territories: “Nagorno Karabakh is Armenia, full stop.” Apart from that, the Armenian side called for occupying not only the Nagorno-Karabakh region but also other territories of Azerbaijan.
The ambassador stated that the Armenian leadership resorted to provocations against Azerbaijan, including the next aggression in the direction of Tovuz region in July of this year to distract the population from the serious situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic and internal problems. The leadership of Azerbaijan commanded a counter-attack to prevent these provocations, liberate its territories from occupation and protect the safety of the civilian population.
The diplomat said that the information spread by Armenia about Turkey's participation in the fighting on the side of Azerbaijan is also false. He emphasized that there were no facts to prove it. Turkiye simply declared that they supported Azerbaijan's position. Armenia itself involved Armenian militants brought from Syria and Lebanon into battles. The main goal of Armenia is to involve the political-military alliance of which it is a member - the Collective Security Treaty Organization led by Russia - in the conflict.
Ismayilzade spoke about the resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council about the Nagorno Karabakh region, which demand the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories and the restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
The interview also touches upon the recent provocations and the situation between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It was stated that Armenians shelled the civilians living near the contact line by using heavy artillery.
The diplomat highlighted that Azerbaijan wished to establish peace in the region, and to live in equality and peace. He wants the Armenian troops to leave the occupied lands in accordance with the requirements of international law. However, the Armenians want to separate the Nagorno-Karabakh region from Azerbaijan, as a result of which the negotiations lose their meaning.
He also spoke about the Azerbaijani population, who have been displaced from their lands. Azerbaijan does not have any intention about expelling the peaceful Armenian population. Therefore, the international community, including Japan, should put more pressure on Armenia.
The interview also included special comments from the editor-in-chief of the newspaper. It was stated that the armed clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh started in the 1980s during the Soviet Union. The Armenian population of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Republic, which was the Azerbaijani territory, wanted to join Armenia. More than 20 thousand people were killed during the conflict. Although an agreement on a ceasefire was reached following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Armenian armed forces kept those areas under occupation. Both sides suffered from losses in armed clashes, which started on September 27. Nearly 230 people have died from both sides since the clashes started.