Hikmat Hajiyev: Revanchist forces are trying to undermine the peace process

Euronews has published a report on the conclusions of the Arab Media Forum held in Dubai, featuring comments by Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, on the peace process between Baku and Yerevan.

The television channel quoted Hajiyev as describing efforts to achieve peace with Armenia as "an uphill struggle."

Hajiyev also emphasized Azerbaijan's commitment to preserving Christian heritage on its territory, describing it as part of the country's history.

The Euronews report said that Baku had warned that "revanchist forces" in Armenia and the Armenian diaspora "are still strong" and are trying to undermine the historic peace process between the former rivals.

"Now we won the war, but we are also winning in peace, which is an uphill struggle. Throughout the years of occupation in Karabakh and Eastern Zangazur, our mosques, our Islamic cultural heritage were a subject of complete destruction by Armenia - even the pigs were put inside of the mosques," said Hajiyev.

The presidential advisor outlined that while the country is part of the broader Islamic civilisation, "currently, three religions - Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, with mosques, churches, and synagogues - are side by side" in Azerbaijan.

Hajiyev further said Azerbaijan is dedicated to "preserving the Christian heritage on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, regardless of their belonging, and that is a full stop because it's our cultural heritage."

In the Euronews Forum panel at the Arab Media Summit, the top Azerbaijani official reiterated Baku"s firm position that even after securing peace, the South Caucasus country is still subject to "disinformation".

"One such institution is the European Parliament which is not part of the solution, it's part of the problem," along with certain Western media outlets, Hajiyev said.

"The European Parliament is adopting resolutions and decisions, humiliating and also undermining the agenda of peace of our region," he added.

"We are in the process of building regional peace, but the European Parliament is pursuing some completely different agenda."

Hajiyev pointed out the EU's policy towards the South Caucasus "shouldn't be only a one-centric approach, it should embrace the entire region with balanced cooperation with the regional countries."

Furthermore, the EU policy should be about "building the concept of the new partnership ... and not to build into dividing lines," according to him.