BAKU, NOV 24 (DNA) – Azerbaijan has the right to defend itself like all other states, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev said in his interview with Portugal’s Diario de noticias Mundo news portal, titled “Armenia is the only mono-ethnic state in the world”, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry told.

Armenia used force to carry out ethnic cleansing in the occupied Azerbaijani territories and more than one million Azerbaijanis were expelled from the lands, noted Hajiyev.

He said that due to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the illegal existence of the Armenian armed forces in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, ceasefire is violated every day and this leads to human casualties.

“Therefore, first of all, the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan should be ensured. First of all, the occupation fact should be abandoned and the Armenian troops must be unconditionally withdrawn from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” added the official.

Hajiyev said that first of all, Armenia should abandon its occupation policy.

He went on to say that four resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council demand unconditional and complete withdrawal of Armenian occupation forces from Azerbaijani territories.

“The occupation must be abandoned and the return of internally displaced persons to their lands should be ensured. According to international law, internationally recognized borders of states can not be changed forcefully. Armenia must also understand that these feudal rules are unacceptable in the 21st century,” noted the Azerbaijani official.

“Armenia occupied the territory of another country and carried out ethnic cleansing against the Azerbaijani population in the occupied lands, destroyed civilian property, and then presented its results as self-determination,” he added. “If the Armenian troops leave the occupied Azerbaijani territories, Azerbaijan may view granting Nagorno-Karabakh with a status of high autonomy within its borders.”

“I would recommend you to only look at secondary school textbooks in Armenia,” said Hajiyev responding to the question that “There is such an opinion in Armenia that the hatred of the Azerbaijani side is very great. How would you comment on this?”

“You will see the extreme manifestations of xenophobia and hatred there,” added Hajiyev. “Armenia is the only mono-ethnic state in the world, because ethnic cleansing has been carried out regularly there. 300,000 Azerbaijanis have been subjected to ethnic cleansing.”

“Two years ago, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said that Armenians and Azerbaijanis are ethnically incompatible. This is a statement of a nature of racial discrimination,” noted Hajiyev.

Answering the journalist’s question on Azerbaijan’s possible returning Nagorno-Karabakh by force, Hajiyev said that there are still ways for solving the conflict by peaceful means.