“Let them not forget about the second Karabakh war,” Aliyev said during a visit to Jebrail, a town just south of Nagorno-Karabakh recaptured by Azerbaijan during the 2020 war. “Let them not forget how they begged for mercy from us on their knees, how they appealed to Russia at the highest level ten times a day, asking to stop the war. Let them not forget about the anti-terror operation [of September 2023 in Karabakh.]”
“We achieved what we wanted without fearing anyone, without reckoning with anyone,” he said just over a week after the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers pledged to “put additional efforts” towards peace during talks hosted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York.
Aliyev went on to blame Blinken for a joint letter by six dozen U.S. lawmakers accusing Azerbaijan of carrying out ethnic cleansing in Karabakh and urging Washington to impose sanctions on it. He also hit out at France, which has signed a number of arms deals with Armenia over the past year.
“I also warn Armenia stop those dangerous games,” he said. “On the one hand, they talk about peace, on the other hand, they arm themselves heavily. Who gives them weapons: France and similar anti-Azerbaijani countries? Why do they give away that weapon? No matter how hard they try, they will not achieve anything.”
U.S. - U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets with the Armenian and Azerbaijani foreign ministers, New York, September 26, 2024.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry responded to Aliyev later in the day, wondering whether Baku is “abandoning the peace agenda” and “preparing aggression” against Armenia. The ministry spokeswoman, Ani Badalian, stressed that Armenia has no “aggressive intentions” towards Azerbaijan and recognizes its territorial integrity.
“Armenia acquires weapons and military equipment only in order to realize its right of self-defense and obligation to protect its own citizens,” Badalian added in written comments. She argued that Azerbaijan’s defense budget is much bigger than Armenia’s.
Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan likewise warned on Wednesday that Azerbaijan may be planning to invade Armenia. Speaking during an international conference in Warsaw, Mirzoyan accused Baku of lacking the “political will” to sign a framework agreement sought by Yerevan.
The Azerbaijani side has repeatedly rejected an Armenian proposal to conclude such a deal and try to settle the remaining sticking points in the future. It has also made clear that Armenia must change its constitution before it can make peace with Azerbaijan. In recent weeks and days, Aliyev has set further conditions for Yerevan.
Armenian opposition leaders maintain that Aliyev has no intention to sign any agreement before clinching more far-reaching concessions from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. They say that Pashinian’s appeasement policy is only encouraging the Azerbaijani strongman to make more demands on Yerevan.