The efforts of Armenia and the international community to establish long-lasting peace in the South Caucasus region are being torpedoed by belligerent rhetoric and military actions on the part of Azerbaijan, Speaker of the Armenian National Assembly Alen Simolyan said at the plenary session of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly.
He reminded that on September 13, 2022, the armed forces of Azerbaijan, in gross violation of the ceasefire, launched a large-scale armed aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.
“Hundreds were killed, went missing or were taken captive as a result of the offensive, several thousand people were displaced. There are casualties among the civilian population, and significant damage has been done to civilian infrastructure. Some sections of the sovereign territory of Armenia are occupied by the armed forces of Azerbaijan. These attacks were preceded by acts of aggression in May, June and November 2021,” the Speaker said.
He noted that horrifying cases of execution of unarmed Armenian prisoners of war on the sovereign territory of Armenia, violence, mutilation of captured Armenian military personnel have been recorded.
“Photos and videos of torture and abuse of the bodies of Armenian female soldiers are circulating on Azerbaijani social networks. Unfortunately, these crimes, condemned by the international community, have received wide approval in the Azerbaijani society. In this context, a proper international investigation must be carried out and the perpetrators of these atrocities must be held accountable. Unfortunately, the lack of an unequivocal and targeted response from international and regional structures in response to non-compliance with its obligations allowed Azerbaijan to continue its aggressive policy,” Simonyan added.
He reiterated that Armenia is committed to establishing a long-lasting and just peace in the South Caucasus region and throughout the CIS, and added that “the policy of threats and coercion is unacceptable for us.”
“Concrete actions are required for an effective negotiation process, namely the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, the unconditional observance of the ceasefire regime and the immediate release of all Armenian prisoners of war and other detainees. In connection with the current situation, we turned to the CSTO with a request to provide Armenia with the necessary, including military, assistance, in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of the Collective Security Treaty. In response to our appeal, an extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council was convened, following which a mission was sent to Armenia to monitor and study the situation on the ground. The mission has already completed its work and presented conclusions and proposals,” the National Assembly President said.
“We attach particular importance to the introduction of international mechanisms for monitoring and controlling the border situation in order to prevent new aggressions. As a result of the agreements reached in Prague on October 6 this year, a technical group of the EU civil monitoring mission arrived in Armenia,” he informed.
