In his remarks at the November 15 gathering the top Armenian diplomat accused Azerbaijan of unleashing military aggression against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh last year and called on “all partners interested in a comprehensive settlement of the conflict to express unconditional and full support to the peace process with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.”
“I want to reiterate that Armenia is ready to reach long-lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus. However, peace cannot be achieved by the good will of one party alone. It is difficult to imagine lasting peace in the region with the so-called ‘Trophy Park’ in Baku, with continued hate speech and xenophobia by the high officials of Azerbaijan, with continued imprisonment of Armenian POWs and other detainees, many cases of enforced disappearances, with continued infiltration and presence of Azerbaijani troops into sovereign territory of Armenia, the last attempt of which occurred just yesterday. As much as Armenia expresses its readiness for de-escalation, Azerbaijan continues provocations in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the Armenian-Azerbaijani borders inflicting casualties among civilians. As much as Armenia calls for opening of regional communication, Azerbaijan continues to demand a so-called ‘corridor’,” Mirzoyan said.
He noted that while in the beginning Azerbaijan was conditioning the release of Armenian prisoners of war with obtaining minefields maps, “when Armenia did propose to provide all maps in anticipation of the release of all captives, Azerbaijan stepped back, questioning the credibility of the maps.”
Mirzoyan also accused Azerbaijan of impeding access to Nagorno-Karabakh for international humanitarian organizations, including those that request a fact-finding mission to determine the state of cultural heritage.
“Generic calls on both sides under the circumstances when Armenia makes credible steps towards peace, while Azerbaijan continues the escalation of the situation, may indicate indifference and lack of commitment from our international partners.
“If you want to support us to reach stability in the region, then there is no other way than being frank on these issues and communicating to us your vision of human rights and use of force in our region without applying double standards. We stand ready to be a genuine partner with the European Union in this regard,” the Armenian foreign minister concluded.