Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Tuesday that Yerevan has expectations that its international partners will display political will and take resolute steps to counter Azerbaijan’s ongoing behavior.
“Armenia expects our international partners to display political will and take effective steps in the direction of changing Azerbaijan’s destructive, inhumane and belligerent conduct,” Mirzoyan said during a joint press conference with his Belgian counterpart Hadja Lahbib who visited Yerevan on Tuesday.
Mirzoyan said that he discussed the growing humanitarian crisis in Artsakh with Lahbib during their meeting.
“We discussed in detail the extremely negative and irreversible consequences of the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, the UN Security Council emergency meeting, the targeted statements made by international partners and organizations, including Belgium and other EU states,” Mirzoyan said adding that Armenia attaches great importance to those statements.
“Nevertheless, despite all of this and contrary to the International Court of Justice rulings on February 22 and July 6, Azerbaijan continues the blockade of Lachin Corridor,” Mirzoyan said, adding that the current situation cannot be viewed as separate from other Azerbaijani actions. “We have been continuously warning that Azerbaijan’s actions are based on the explicit policy of subjecting Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing.”
He added that Azerbaijan has been violating the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh and targeting Armenian positions along the state border of Armenia in the recent days, emphasizing that the European Union monitoring mission also reported cross-border shooting incidents.
Mirzoyan complained that Azerbaijan continues to violate the terms of the November 9, 2020 agreement, including the provision calling for the release of Armenian prisoners of war and other captives.
He warned that by keeping 120,000 Armenians hostage in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is challenging the efforts of the entire international community, and first of all Armenia, aimed at achieving peace and stability.
In discussing the ongoing negotiation process, Mirzoyan said that Yerevan welcomes any “unbiased, objective and neutral mediation,” saying that Armenia does not distinguish between the frameworks under which talks are held with Azerbaijan.
“What matters for us is that the agreements reached at the meetings are functional and are implemented,” Mirzoyan emphasized.
“For example,” he said, “we still haven’t heard the Azerbaijani President’s public statements on recognizing Armenia’s territorial integrity, whereas we’ve heard such statements during private meetings. This is very concerning, and it could mean that Azerbaijan has territorial aspirations against Armenia,” Mirzoyan added, emphasizing that not only has Azerbaijan not implemented the agreements, “its actions are further deteriorating the situation.”
“While we speak about the fact that addressing the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh must constitute a part of resolution and that expecting sustainable and lasting peace in South Caucasus would be unrealistic without it, we actually see a blockade of an entire nation, an entire region through the illegal closure of the Lachin Corridor,” Mirzoyan said, reiterating Yerevan’s call on the international community to be more vigilant.
