Baku—Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a strong rebuke to Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, accusing her of distorting facts and undermining Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The criticism follows comments made by Joly that Baku claims support separatism and target Azerbaijan’s claims over the Garabagh region.

According to Trend News Agency, Aykhan Hajizada, the press secretary of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, articulated the government’s discontent with Joly’s statements made on September 22. Hajizada criticized the Canadian minister for her alleged lack of awareness of the regional realities post-Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and the recent reclamation of sovereignty by Azerbaijan over the Karabakh region in 2023.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry underscored that the Canadian Foreign Minister’s remarks not only misrepresented the situation but also supported the separatist movements, which contradicts the international law principles that ended the conflict four years ago. The ministry’s statement expressed disappointment over Canada’s silence on the historical ethnic cleansing, massacres, and crimes against humanity that Armenia allegedly committed against Azerbaijanis during the prolonged conflict.

Moreover, the statement accuses the Canadian official of promoting a biased narrative influenced by the Armenian diaspora, ignoring the humanitarian crises and the rights of almost 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) from formerly occupied Azerbaijani territories and those deported from Armenia.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry concluded by asserting that these statements from Canada could hinder the progress and development of the region, which should be based on mutual respect for international laws rather than biased foreign interventions.