Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan replied to some false statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev during the panel discussion held within the frames of Munich Security Conference.

As reports Armenpress the discussion on the security of South Caucasus was held in the frames of Munich international conference with participation of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid. Nikol Pashinyan replied to Aliyev's statement that "in Azerbaijan there is no concept of Nagorno Karabakh and there is no such administrative-territorial unit". He underscored that there is Nagorno Karabakh and there is also Lachin corridor, which should be opened according to the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 and this document was also signed by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev.

The document bears the signature of the President of Azerbaijan, said Pashinyan. The document also says that the Lachin corridor should remain open and not controlled by Azerbaijan. Recently several Armenian children tried to cross the Lachin corridor by bus, but they were stopped, and some Azerbaijanis in masks entered the bus. The children were frightened and it was the last attempt of Armenians to cross the Lachin corridor, said Pashinyan.

Pashinyan considered Aliyev's claim that Armenians were destroying mosques groundless.

In 2017, many mosques were destroyed in Azerbaijan in order to build other buildings in their place. More than 1,500 mosques were destroyed in Azerbaijan during the Soviet years, and the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh should not have to pay the debts of the Soviet era. This is a very worrying narrative, Pashinyan is worried that Azerbaijan wants to put a religious context on this whole situation. There is no religious context to the conflict. There is a Muslim minority in Armenia and a functioning mosque. This is reality, Pashinyan stressed.

According to the Armenian Prime Minister, the Azerbaijani president used offensive words in his speech, emphasizing the word "surrender."

Pashinyan noted that Azerbaijan seems to have adopted a policy of revenge, and maybe it is Azerbaijan's policy. It was noted that this is a historic meeting, but what to use it for: to incite hatred, aggressive rhetoric or to use this platform to improve the situation? Armenia believes that it should use this platform for constructive purposes, Pashinyan stressed. He noted that he is proud that Armenian government held free and competitive elections even after a devastating war. The solution is democracy, transparency, dialogue and respect for all countries in the region, Pashinyan concluded.