Aliyev lays claim to 'historical lands' in Armenia. Moscow, Yerevan react

At a military parade in Baku dedicated to the victory in Karabakh, President Ilham Aliyev called the capital of Armenia, as well as Zangezur, that is, the Syunik region, and Sevan the ‘historical lands’ of Azerbaijan.

President Aliyev’s provocative statements caused an extremely negative reaction amongst the Armenian public; political circles in Russia reacted as well.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that political statements should not negate the achieved result of the cessation of hostilities in Karabakh:

“The situation in the region is very difficult, a lot of efforts have been made to return it to a peaceful course, to end the hostilities, to bring the parties to the negotiating table and launch the very difficult process of returning refugees, restoring infrastructure, creating prerequisites and conditions for normalizing life in this region in all spheres.”

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Comments from the Press Secretary of the Prime Minister of Armenia:

Armenian PM Press Secretary Mano Gevorgyan lamented that the territorial claims on Armenian lands may cast in doubt Azerbaijan’s readiness to establish peace, and may endanger entire regional peace and security:

“In addition, such statements make the international recognition of the right of the Armenians of Artsakh to self-determination more than relevant in terms of preventing the new genocidal aspirations of Azerbaijanis against the Armenians of Artsakh.”

The press secretary of the Armenian Prime Minister also commented on the recently delivered speech of Turkish President Erdogan at a parade in Baku.

“Let the eternal soul of Enver Pasha shine,” Erdogan said at the time.

Gevorgyan says the celebration of the organizers of the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire by the Turkish presidency deserves condemnation: “Such positions are questionable under the auspices of the Turks, in which case they are ready to contribute to regional peace and stability.”

Commentary of the Ombudsman of Armenia

Armenian Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan responded to the statements made at the parade in Baku on his Facebook page.

“The speeches of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey, according to the Ombudsman, are a manifestation of terror, a clear threat to the life and health of the entire people of Armenia, the entire civilian population”, he said.

The Ombudsman of Armenia believes that these statements confirm the Azerbaijani policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide by terrorist methods in Karabakh during the last war:

“The speeches of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey contained the same accents and words of hatred and enmity that the Azerbaijani military used during this war in the course of torture, brutal killings of Armenian military personnel and civilians or inhuman treatment of them with exceptional cynicism.”

Aliyev’s previous statements

Aliyev has repeatedly called Yerevan the ‘historical territory’ of Azerbaijan. Moreover, during a speech at the 6th Congress of the ruling New Azerbaijan Party in 2018, he said:

“Yerevan is our historical territory, and we, Azerbaijanis, must return to this historical land. This is our political and strategic goal, which we must gradually approach.”