In his speech delivered on December 1 at the 29th OSCE Ministerial Conference in Lodz, Poland, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan noted that Armenia continues to believe that the OSCE, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, and the OSCE instruments, with their accumulated knowledge and experience, can and must contribute to the establishment of stability and lasting peace in the region.
Among other matters, he referred to the provocative and aggressive actions carried out by Azerbaijan against the Armenians of Artsakh in March and August of this year.
“In clear violation of the trilateral statements, Azerbaijan effectively subjected yet another populated area of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing and attempted to obstruct the functioning of the Lachin corridor, which is the ‘Road of Life’ for more than 120,000 people,” said Mirzoyan, adding: “We believe that the issue of the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh must also be comprehensively addressed. These issues have always been at the core of the peace process led by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs.”
Mirzoyan also addressed the presence of Azerbaijani armed forces in Armenia, calling it a serious challenge to the region’s fragile peace and stability. “Our neighbor Azerbaijan not only continues its maximalist and belligerent rhetoric, but also military aggression against Armenia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” noted Mirzoyan, presenting the results of the September clashes with figures. “Azerbaijan has occupied approximately 140 square kilometers of Armenia’s sovereign territory; the Armenian side has 233 victims, including civilians. Under current conditions, it is difficult to think of achieving peace in a separate segment of the OSCE region. Nevertheless, the Armenian government has demonstrated political will and is taking decisive steps toward opening a new era of peace and stability in the South Caucasus. The process of delimitation of our state border must not be turned into a tool for presenting territorial claims against Armenia and, accordingly, must be carried out on the basis of maps with legal foundations,” emphasized Mirzoyan.
