At the special session of the OSCE Permanent Council on 13 January 2022, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Zbigniew Rau presented the priorities of the Polish presidency.
From the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia it was stated that during the ensuing exchange of views, the head of Armenia’s mission to the OSCE, Ambassador Armen Papikyan delivered a speech in which he addressed the provocations and military clashes continuously organised by Azerbaijan on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and the line of contact with Artsakh, which cause human losses.
“In particular, reference was made to the provocative action organised on 11 January 2022 by the Azerbaijani armed units that had infiltrated the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia since 12 May 2021, using artillery and unmanned aerial vehicles, as a result of which Armenian soldiers Arthur Mkhitaryan, Rudik Gharybian and Vahan Babayan were killed.
“It was emphasised that the anti-Armenian and, at the same time, ‘self-incriminating’ statements coming from Baku in recent days confirm that Azerbaijan initiated those clashes,” the statement reads.
According to the source, the attention of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office was drawn to the issues of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives held in Baku, as well as enforced disappearances, which remain unresolved to this day due to Azerbaijan’s violation of its commitments under the 9 November trilateral statement and international humanitarian law.
Ambassador Papikyan called on the OSCE Chairpersonship and the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group to take effective measures to stop Azerbaijan’s provocations and to resume the peaceful process of resolving the crisis.
