On 24 May, Artsakh’s Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazaryan sent official letters to heads of foreign diplomatic missions accredited to the Republic of Armenia, in which he presented the concerns of the Government of Artsakh regarding the existential dangers threatening the people of Artsakh.
In particular, the letter said that since the signing of the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020, Azerbaijan has been deliberately spreading disinformation about alleged illegal military activities in Artsakh, including transfer of weapons, thereby trying to justify their own illegal actions and possible new attacks on Artsakh, and to demand the disarmament of the Defence Army to deprive the people of Artsakh of any opportunity for self-defence.
It emphasised that after the 44-day war, Azerbaijan built dozens of new military facilities in the occupied territories of Artsakh and deployed thousands of military personnel there. It has also been regularly conducting military exercises and replenishing its arsenal mainly with offensive weapons in violation of international arms control mechanisms.
The letter also referred to Azerbaijan’s more than 5-month-long blockade of Artsakh and its humanitarian and security consequences, including the illegal installation of an Azerbaijani checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor in violation of the 2020 Trilateral Statement and the order of the International Court of Justice of 22 February 2023. In this context, the Foreign Minister emphasised that any action or statement supporting the illegal claims of Azerbaijan is perceived by this country’s leadership as condoning of their policy of ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs called on international actors to express a strong and impartial position regarding the actions of Azerbaijan, and urge the latter to refrain from the further use of or threat of force, respecting its international obligations. He emphasized that this is the least the international community must do to demonstrate its commitment to preventing genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
