Official Baku rejects accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide of Armenian residents in Karabakh.

Axar.az reports that Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to the President of Azerbaijan - Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration, said this in an interview with "France 24" in response to the Armenian authorities' accusations of ethnic cleansing and genocide.

The presidential assistant said that Armenian residents are free to leave or stay in the region.

"We cannot accept accusations of ethnic cleansing or genocide. Ethnic cleansing is an act of violence against civilians, which is what Armenia used against us 30 years ago. But this does not mean that we will repeat the same thing. There was no violence even once. They confirm it themselves."