Commentary by the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry justifying the aggressive separatism of radical Armenian nationalists of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast of the Azerbaijan SSR.

We strongly condemn the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in support of the illegal decision of February 20, 1988, which laid the foundation for the aggressive separatism of the radical Armenians of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) of the Azerbaijan SSR.

We remind that the so-called decision contradicted the USSR Constitution, the Law on the NKAO of 1981, as well as all other relevant legal acts.

Armenia's support for aggressive Armenian separatists and its aggressive policy based on territorial claims against Azerbaijan has led to the occupation of the part of Azerbaijan's territory for nearly 30 years, bloody ethnic cleansing in these lands, and violation of the fundamental rights of one million Azerbaijanis.

Aggressive separatism, described by the Armenian Foreign Ministry as a "revival", has led to a large-scale catastrophe in the region for decades. This situation has seriously hampered the development of the region in peace and security for many years.

At a time when international law is being established in the region and efforts are being made to normalize relations between the two countries, the Armenian Foreign Ministry's statement encouraging interethnic discord between two nations shows, on the one hand, the country's irresponsible behavior and, on the other, that it had not yet drawn the lessons of the recent events.

We bring to the attention of the Armenian Foreign Ministry that such a destructive approach has no future.