The statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia dated January 3, 2023 regarding the peaceful protest on the Lachin-Khankendi road, passing near Shusha, is completely unfounded and is aimed at causing bewilderment of international partners on this issue by artificially exacerbating the situation, AzVision.az reports citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's Press Service.
"It is not surprising that the Armenian Foreign Ministry makes distorted statements on the peaceful protests of Azerbaijani civil society representatives against plundering of the country's natural resources by Armenia during the 30-year occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Armenia seems to be still interested in continuing illegal economic and other activities in Azerbaijan," the statement said.
Since November 2021, the Azerbaijani government has repeatedly sent appeals to suppress illegal economic activities in the area of Russian peacekeepers' temporary deployment, and tried to resolve the issue for the last time through December 3-10 talks. Despite all these efforts, Armenia, by ignoring the appeals, blocked access to the relevant structures and attempted to continue illicit activities. All these actions resulted in a rightful protest of the Azerbaijani public, demanding these activities to stop, the ministry added.
"Each statement directed against these protests is a violation of the international law principles, such as the sovereignty, territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as well as disrespect for the Constitution of the country, and the rights of the protesters, which envisages that Azerbaijan owns all natural resources located on its territory," the statement noted.
However, claims on the alleged blockade of the Lachin-Khankendi road and "humanitarian crisis" are baseless. The free daily movement of passenger cars, medical vehicles of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the peacekeeping contingent is indisputable. Moreover, the government of Azerbaijan and representatives of civil society declared their readiness to promptly resolve all humanitarian needs facing Armenian residents, said the ministry.
"Despite statements of Azerbaijan on the Lachin-Khankendi road's availability for intended use following the trilateral statement, provocateurs posing as representatives of the Armenians living in Karabakh dissuade the population from using the road, which proves once again that such people, giving a false impression of a peaceful protest, are pursuing the goal of continuing their illegal and heinous actions," the press service stated.
As for the accusations of violating the trilateral declaration, Azerbaijani MFA reminds the Armenian side that, illegal extraction and transportation of natural resources from the territory of Azerbaijan, the continuation of military supplies to the Armenian armed forces, which have not yet been fully withdrawn from Azerbaijan, the strengthening of the mine threat by transporting mines across the Lachin road and installing them on the territory of Azerbaijan, illegal transit of citizens third countries, according to this document, also signed by the leader of Armenia, are unacceptable and a gross violation of the terms of the trilateral statement.
"Despite the manipulative campaign of the Armenian Foreign Ministry in connection with the meeting of the UN Security Council on December 20, 2022, it can be said that almost all UN Security Council member states have called for the fulfillment of obligations under the trilateral declaration, as well as mutual recognition and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, thereby strengthening the position of Azerbaijan and not by supporting provocations by Armenia. Armenia's calls to send any mission to the territory of Azerbaijan are regarded as another provocation against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country and this should be put to an end," the ministry said.
The accusation of Azerbaijan by the Armenian MFA of deportation and ethnic cleansing, besides being absurd, is also a futile attempt to conceal the systematic and consistent policy of ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis on the territory of Armenia and Azerbaijan, carried out by Armenians throughout the 20th century. Historical facts are both territorial claims that broke out once again in 1987, deportation and ethnic cleansing against about a million Azerbaijanis, and numerous cases of mass killings of Azerbaijanis that took place.
At the same time, it is worth recalling that even in the 44-day Patriotic War, the number of Azerbaijani civilians who died in territories significantly remote from the combat zone was many times greater than the declared number of Armenian civilian deaths. All this is irrefutable evidence of which side is attacking the civilian population.
"Azerbaijan once again calls on Armenia to comply with the obligations arising from international law and the trilateral declaration - to refrain from actions directed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country, to stop aggressive political and military provocations. Azerbaijan's position on peace, stability and development of the region is principled and consistent, and measures based on international law and established international experience will be continued on our part," the press service of the Azerbaijani MFA said.
More about:
