YEREVAN. May 29 (Interfax) - The recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity by Armenia does not allow Baku to pursue any ethnic purges against the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.
"The recognition of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity cannot be interpreted as the right to conduct an ethnic purge against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Republic of Armenia draws the attention of the international community to the fact that by his statement, the Azerbaijani president is setting the stage for further aggression against the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and depriving it of the right to live freely, safely and decently in its homeland," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday.
"Not only does [the Azerbaijani president] threaten Nagorno-Karabakh's population with genocide, he also calls into question the independence and territorial integrity of Armenia," it said.
"Essentially, the Azerbaijani president poses a challenge to the entire civilized community, threatening to use force to occupy new sovereign territories of Armenia. Furthermore, [he] has emphasized that even the presence of an EU monitoring mission along the international frontier between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot stop Azerbaijan's ambitions to satisfy territorial claims on Armenia," it said.
Armenia is unwavering in its chosen path towards establishing peace in the region, it said.
"Regrettably, it is evident from the Azerbaijani leadership's aggressive rhetoric and actions that [Azerbaijan] does not see any solution to the problems through recognizing Armenia's territorial integrity within the boundaries determined by the Almaty Declaration. To avoid this scenario, all partners interested in peace and stability in the South Caucasus must offer unequivocal assessments," it said.
On May 28, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said that representatives of the Armenian minority in Nagorno-Karabakh had twice refused to engage in a dialogue in Baku, and there would be no third offer.
"My representative went and had the first meeting with them, after which we invited them to Baku for dialogue. They refused. After that, we invited them to Baku for the second time. They refused this as well. There will be no third invitation. Either they will come with their heads bowed, or events will develop differently," Aliyev said.
Representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh could be 'amnestied' only if they voluntarily leave their pseudo-posts and apply for Azerbaijani citizenship, he said.
"And we will still consider it. My word is final, everyone knows that, in Azerbaijan and in the world, including in Armenia. We do what we say. None of our words hang in the air, like they say, and this word will not hang in the air. If I say an amnesty can be considered, they should use this opportunity. They have lost a lot of opportunities, and every time, like they say, we had to hit them on the head to bring them to their senses," Aliyev said.