Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Moldova reports the following

On July 22, the Congress of Azerbaijanis in Moldova (CAM) held a peaceful demonstration agreed with the Chisinau city hall in accordance with the state legislation, protested against the armed provocations committed by the Armenian armed forces  in the direction of the Tovuz district at the border of Azerbaijan and Armenia from July 12-14 and supported the Azerbaijan Armed Forces. The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Moldova was also officially notified about the event.

The demonstration started at the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Moldova where the participants met with Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan Gudsi Osmanov to express their support to the Azerbaijani Government. The diplomat urged the participants of the demonstration to protest peacefully and to act in accordance with the law as well as warned against any possible provocations.

Afterwards, about 50 representatives of the Azerbaijani community went to the Embassy of Armenia, where they planned to hold a peaceful demonstration and read out the declaration of CAM addressed to international organizations demanding the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as condemning the recent acts of Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan.

In the Embassy of Armenia, representatives of the Armenian community in Moldova were there in order to violate the right of participants to peaceful protest. Based on this, the situation was already part of the planned provocation by the Armenian community, as this could have led to possible collisions and unexpected consequences.

Moreover, among the Armenian community there were the deputy of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Gaik Vartanyan and the adviser to the President of the Republic of Moldova Ernest Vardanyan.

It would be emphasized that public servants despite their ethnic origin are obliged to protect the interests of the state and voters they represent, rather than trying to harm bilateral relations between two states - Azerbaijan and Moldova. It would be also noted the fact that there are ethnic Azerbaijanis in the state agencies of the Republic of Moldova but they act in accordance with the interests of the Republic of Moldova. Previously, the Congress of Azerbaijan sent an appeal to the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova and to the President of Moldova with condemning the actions of the deputy of the Republic of Moldova, Gaik Vartanyan, who signed the PACE declaration in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, based on his personal ethnic interests. The Declaration distorted historical facts regarding the occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Almost 30 years, twenty percent (20%) of the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan are under the Armenian occupation. Four (4) UN Security Council resolutions on the liberation of occupied Nagorno Karabakh and seven surrounding areas by Armenian armed forces are still not being implemented.

Representatives of the Armenian community, waiting in front of the Armenian Embassy, later began screaming and insulting in Armenian language, informing about the occupation of more territories, including the capital of Azerbaijan - Baku. By their actions, representatives of the Armenian community provoked Azerbaijani peaceful protesters. In fact, there were Azerbaijanis among the participants of the demonstration who were expelled from the territory of modern Armenia and understood the Armenian language. In addition, Azerbaijani flag was ripped off the hands of one of Azerbaijani representatives. In the videos appeared on the networks, all these are clearly visible. As a result, the peaceful march grew into a collision between the representatives of the two communities.

At the same time, we would like to thank the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Moldova due to their professional and prompt elimination of the conflict.

The Embassy of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Moldova condemns the provocative actions of Armenians at peaceful demonstration organized by representatives of the Azerbaijani community. In addition, we condemn the actions of Gaik Vartanyan and Ernest Vardanyan who are ethnic Armenians holding state positions in the Republic of Moldova, repeatedly doing international and national actions based on their ethnic interests, trying to deteriorate relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Moldova.

In summary, the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in the Republic of Moldova calls on both communities to avoid such incidents in the future and to coexist peacefully in the Moldovan community.