Azerbaijan continues its planned policy of terrorizing the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, subjecting Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing and “creeping occupation,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The comments come after the armed forces of Azerbaijan, once again violating the trilateral statement of the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on ceasefire in Nagorno Karabakh of November 9, 2020, resorted to aggression in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces, which resulted in casualties and injuries.
“Despite the steps taken by the Armenian side to achieve stability and peace in the region, Azerbaijan continues its planned policy of terrorizing the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, subjecting Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing and creeping occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Ministry said.
It reminded that examples of such aggression and ceasefire violation are the advancements of the Azerbaijani forces in the direction of the village of Parukh on March 24, the attack on the villages of Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher on December 11, 2020, which are also located in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops.
“We consider inadmissible the statements made by the Azerbaijani side, which attempt at unilaterally changing the legal regime of the Lachin Corridor defined by point 6 of the trilateral statement and reaffirm that the route passing through the Lachin Corridor can be changed only according to a plan approved by the parties that signed the statement,” the Foreign Ministry stated.
“As the statement of November 9 clearly notes, with the agreement of the parties (i.e. the Russian Federation, the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan), the plan for the construction of a new traffic route through the Lachin Corridor connecting Armenia with Nagorno-Karabakh will be decided within the next three years, with the subsequent redeployment of Russian peacekeeping troops to protect that route,” the Foreign Ministry noted.
It emphasized that to date there is no such plan approved in a tripartite format, and called on all parties to the trilateral statement to adhere to their commitments, to make immediate efforts to implement the conditions established by the statement of November 9, including respect for the ceasefire regime, opening of regional communications, release of prisoners of war and other detained persons.
“The Republic of Armenia has fulfilled all its obligations. The reason for non-implementation of a number of points of the tripartite statement of November 9 is Azerbaijan’s arbitrary interpretations, continued aggressive rhetoric and actions,” the Ministry stated.
“The Republic of Armenia, once again reaffirming its commitment to the agenda of establishing peace and stability in the region, calls on the international community to take measures to stop the aggressive attitude and actions of Azerbaijan and to launch the necessary international mechanisms for this,” it concluded.
