YEREVAN. May 31 (Interfax) - Yerevan expects an appropriate response from Washington to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's recent statements on Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenian Foreign Ministry press secretary Ani Badalyan said.
"We believe that the United States, based on its own values of democracy and human rights protection and its commitment and involvement in the establishment of lasting peace in the region, should adequately respond to these statements in order to prevent the expansionist policy of the Azerbaijani leadership towards the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and attempts of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh," Badalyan said in a commentary circulated by the ministry.
Armenia has always welcomed the U.S. efforts toward promoting peace, stability, and security in the South Caucasus, she said.
"We think it should be obvious to all our partners that, in the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, both the recognition of each other's territorial integrity and inviolability of borders based on the Alma-Ata Declaration and addressing the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are key," Badalyan said.
"As we emphasized in the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia on May 29, the recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan cannot be interpreted as authority to carry out ethnic cleansing and arbitrariness against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh," she said.
"It is impossible not to notice that the statements made by the President of Azerbaijan on May 28 not only did not offer dignified solutions to the above-mentioned problems, but also contained clear threats to the sovereignty and independence of the Republic of Armenia and the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in security and with dignity in their homeland," Badalyan said.
"Our partners have been alerted about this many times," she 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.