Claims of Azerbaijani expansionism made by certain European Union officials are “baseless”, a senior official from the country has told Brussels Signal.
Elchin Amirbayov, Azerbaijan’s Representative of the President on special assignments, completely rejected claims from the likes of European Commission foreign affairs head Josep Borrell that his country had any designs on Armenian territory.
“I’m using this opportunity to completely reject these allegations,” Amirbayov told Brussels Signal Head of News Justin Stares on February 13.
The official described recent statements by Borrell, which described Azerbaijan as having “designs” on Armenian territory, as “not reflecting reality”.
“Azerbaijan has no territorial claims to Armenia,” Amirbayov insisted.
He added that the country’s recent annexation of the contested Nagorno-Karabakh region could only considered a “reassertion” of Azerbaijani sovereignty over the area. Amirbayov described Nagorno-Karabakh as having always been his country’s “rightful clay”.
VIDEO: Speaking exclusively to Brussels Signal, Elchin Amirbayov, envoy of Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev, rejects EU claims that his country is eyeing territory in neighbouring Armenia.
Click below to watch the full interview! ⬇️ https://t.co/2ySaF36oBa
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 14, 2024
Amirbayov’s rebuke of Borrell was not isolated.
In a statement, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov also came out to denounce the “unfounded” claims of the chief EU diplomat.
The country also accused the Spanish politician of turning a “blind eye” to aggressive actions allegedly committed by Armenia.
“The High Representative Joseph Borrell’s whitewashing of Armenia, which committed the act of armed aggression, is considered as turning a blind eye to its military provocation,” the ministry said.
Both Amirbayov and the Azerbaijani foreign ministry also expressed frustration at the continued use of the name “Nagorno-Karabakh” to describe the contested region, with both officials claiming that was now a “dysfuntional” title.
“Let me just kindly invite you to follow the new terminology, because Nagorno-Karabakh is used to be a Sovietism which was created,” Amirbayov told Stares.
“Today, we have the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, so Nagorno-Karabakh is an obsolete and dysfunctional name.”
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry is urging the international community to use the term “Garabagh economic region”, saying that calling the area “Nagorno-Karabakh” was “unacceptable”.
An Armenian “sniper” attack broke the ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan, a senior official from Baku has claimed. https://t.co/q92aPmBvx7
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) February 13, 2024
Note: This article was edited to correct a reporting error regarding the statement from the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry which incorrectly identified the country’s foreign minister.
