Interview with Azerbaijani President's special representative published in France's LeMonde

On August 8, 2024, the interview of Elchin Amirbeyov, the representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan on special tasks, was published in the leading French newspaper LeMonde.

Answering journalist Emanuel Grinzspan's questions about the situation in the Garabagh region of Azerbaijan, especially the Lachin road, Elchin Amirbeyov answered the baseless claims in the western media, which were allegedly related to the closure of the road.

The President's representative stated that in accordance with the tripartite statement dated November 10, 2020, the Lachin road should be used for humanitarian purposes, but for two and a half years, Armenia has misused this road for illegal purposes, including sending its armed forces to the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as weapons and ammunition, he said. He emphasized that the number of Armenians living in Garabagh as 120,000 is not true, and in fact there are 50,000 Armenians, including 10,000 illegal Armenian armed forces.

In response to the reporter's question whether you consider Armenian soldiers your citizens, the special representative of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan noted that these Armenians are members of the armed forces of Armenia, who entered the territory of Azerbaijan illegally, contrary to the tripartite declaration. For this reason, the Azerbaijani side established a checkpoint in Lachin on April 23 in accordance with international law, he said.
It was brought to the attention of the other side that medical supplies are currently passing through the Lachin road, and the offer of humanitarian goods to pass through the territory of Aghdam and Fuzuli of Azerbaijan was not accepted by the Armenians.

E. Amirbeyov emphasized that if the situation was really as tragic as presented, people would not care from which direction the humanitarian aid came; it means that the so-called "ruling circles" are holding hostage the majority of Armenians living there, because dissatisfaction is heard on social networks. The so-called ruling forces want to use this situation to put pressure on Azerbaijan at the international level.

In the interview, E. Amirbeyov talked about the facts related to the arrest of Vagif Khachatryan and pointed out that he was on the list of people who committed war crimes against civilian Azerbaijanis during the first Karabakh war.

In response to the journalist's provocative question about Azerbaijan being an authoritarian regime, the special representative emphasized that Azerbaijan is a democratic country, and when it comes to human rights, no country, including France, is perfect.