Azerbaijan, Baku, April 14 / Trend, E. Tariverdiyeva /
It is strange to hear such statements from the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, the head of the state, which not in words, but indeed shot down civilian aircrafts, directly sanctioned murder of civilians and Khojaly genocide, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman Elkhan Polukhov told Trend. He was commenting on Sargsyan's statement at a joint press conference with the Slovenian President Danilo Turk in Ljubljana on Wednesday.
"Armenia is a country, which recently confirmed its adherence to the policy of violence against the civilian population by sanctioning a 9-year-old boy's murder," Polukhov said.
It sounds at the least strange when the leader of the country, which occupied 20 percent of the Azerbaijani territories, speaks about the commitment to the European path of development, he said.
"European values do not imply the occupation of one state's territory by another or attempt to forcibly change its internationally recognized borders," Polukhov stressed.
Armenia's neighbors have deviated from the path of European integration, Novosti Armenia website quoted the President Serzh Sargsyan as saying.
"In fact, not all countries in our region imagine that the path of European integration coincide with the peaceful, free and safe development," Sargsyan said at a joint press conference with Slovenian President Danilo Turk in Ljubljana on Wednesday.
Sargsyan believes that Armenia's immediate neighbor has distortedly perceived the European path, considering the European region only as a good market for oil and gas.
"Nevertheless, no regional development can force Armenia to abandon the position it has chosen," Sargsyan said. "Armenia is decidedly oriented to enhance cooperation with the European Union and EU member states, particularly within the Eastern Partnership."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.