Armenia and Artsakh gave shelter to Syrian refugees and Armenia was guided by humanitarian principles, not a state policy, David Babayan, Spokesman for the Artsakh President, has told ArmInfo.
He says that Baku's statements on mass resettlement of Syrian Armenians in Artsakh are absurd. "We made a humanitarian gesture and gave shelter to several families that were in a desperate situation and badly needed help. We never use people for political purposes. It is unacceptable to us," says Babayan. He points out that such a style is typical to Azerbaijan that settled the Meskhetian Turks in the NKR in the 1980-90s and made them double refugees.
He adds that it is Azerbaijan that makes territorial claims against sovereign states. "It is Baku that makes territorial claims against Artsakh, Armenia, Georgia, Dagestan. So, one cannot say that the Armenian states and their plans are repugnant," says Babayan.
To note, Novruz Mammadov, Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration & Director of Foreign Relations Department, Administration of the President of Azerbaijan, tweeted that the resettlement of Armenians from Syria to Armenia and then to Artsakh is "a continuation of repugnant process implemented for over 2 centuries." "Perhaps, in several decades Armenia would have claims of genocide forwarded against Syria," he tweeted.