Thursday, August 17 2023 14:12

ArmInfo. Representatives of Azerbaijan and Turkiye , in the course of their speeches at an  emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the crisis around Artsakh, traditionally justified the genocidal actions of the Azerbaijani authorities against the people of Artsakh.  It should be noted that Turkey participated in the meeting as a guest and fully supported the Azerbaijani siege.

Thus, Azerbaijani representative Yashar Aliyev assured that the  situation presented by Armenia as a humanitarian issue is "a  provocation and an irresponsible political campaign to undermine the  sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan."

"If Armenia had been sincere in its desire to help, it would have  happened immediately. Recently, a few days ago, this really became  possible practically thanks to the active participation of  international actors, including some members of the Security Council.  This did not happen only because of the refusal Armenia.  After a  series of intensive consultations and efforts of "shuttle diplomacy",  an agreement was finally reached on the delivery of humanitarian  cargo by various routes, as well as on organizing a meeting of  special representatives of the central government with local Armenian  residents," he said, though without explaining that if, nevertheless,  there is no blockade, then why did it suddenly become necessary to  supply humanitarian cargoes to Artsakh.

Then he began to promote the idea of opening a road to Artsakh from  Azerbaijan, ignoring the fact of the agreements on the functioning of  the Kashatagh (Lachin) corridor - the only internationally recognized  route, in accordance with the tripartite statement of November 9,  2020.  The Azerbaijani diplomat accused Armenia of disrupting the  agreements on opening an alternative route.  Then, Aliyev announced  some agreements between the International Committee of the Red Cross  and Azerbaijan on the supply of humanitarian cargo to Artsakh through  Barda back in 2021 (Although there was no such need in Artsakh in  2021 - ed. note).

"Immediately after the end of the war in 2020, Azerbaijan offered the  ICRC its logistics capabilities and infrastructure for the delivery  of goods to Karabakh. In 2021, the goods for the delivery of the ICRC  to this territory were transported to Barda. The Armenian side  refused the goods and prevented the delivery of humanitarian aid to  the ICRC," he noted. Then he began to talk nonsense about the  transportation of dual- use goods allegedly by the ICRC -  (cigarettes, telephones and spare parts for them - ed. note).

"Armenia's misuse of the ICRC for political purposes clearly shows  that calls for an increased international presence, including  UN-affiliated organizations, have nothing to do with humanitarian  concerns, on the contrary, the goal is to get more tools to  manipulate ", - assured the Azerbaijani diplomat.

Further, the Azerbaijani diplomat tried to justify the installation  of an illegal checkpoint corridor in the Kashatagh corridor, contrary  to the tripartite agreements, by making nonsense about allegedly  transferring "weapons and terrorists" through the corridor to  Artsakh.  According to him, if Armenia really thought about ordinary  residents of the region, then it would never object to the delivery  of goods along the Akna (Agdam) - Stepanakert road.

"The so-called Lachin corridor is a road on the sovereign territory  of Azerbaijan, it does not have an extraterritorial status and,  according to the trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, is  intended primarily for the transport of citizens, goods, vehicles.  Azerbaijan, while remaining committed to its obligations under the  trilateral Statement, gave permission to move along this road," he  said, re-presenting the Azerbaijani interpretation of the document on  the ceasefire. Meanwhile, the real statement does not provide for the  Azerbaijani presence in this corridor at all.

"Allegations of genocide are just as unfounded and false. The  manipulative, false campaign of Armenia against Azerbaijan is also  reflected in the so-called conclusion of Luis Moreno Ocampo, who  positions himself as an independent expert. Recently, a well-known  expert on international law, Rodney Dixon, in a preliminary report  noted the fallacy of his statements. As indicated in the conclusion  of Mr. Dixon, the claims put forward by Moreno Ocampo are unfounded,  incomplete and sinful. Thus, the allegations that genocide is  currently being committed in Karabakh are completely groundless," he  continued.

"The verbal statements of the Armenian leadership on the recognition  of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including  Karabakh, have created ground for cautious optimism that peace is  indeed achievable. Now Armenia needs to turn this statement into real  action and stop questioning the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, including  under the pretext of the humanitarian needs of the local Armenian  residents of Karabakh. We are determined to defend our sovereignty  and territorial integrity by all legal means enshrined in the UN  Charter and international law, in the same way we are committed to  these two marked paths," he said.

According to the Azerbaijani diplomat, Azerbaijan's actions in  Nagorno-Karabakh today are the policy of "reintegration of ethnic  Armenians."

"We are confident that the international community and, above all,  the Security Council will support this approach based on equality and  mutual respect, in accordance with the legitimate interests of both  countries, through mutual recognition and respect for the  sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of each other's  borders," he concluded.

In turn, the representative of Turkiye  during his speech noted  "Ankara Turkiye is seriously concerned about Armenia's attempts to  use international platforms to make politically motivated  accusations, including on the topic of the Kashatagh road."  "Azerbaijan's concerns must be taken into account, the sovereign  right of Azerbaijan must also be respected. Azerbaijan has long  expressed concern about abuses over the Lachin road, the transfer of  illegal cargo and armed groups and anti-personnel mines. However,  these alarms of Azerbaijan were not taken into account. Azerbaijan,  within the framework of its sovereign right, has the right take legal  measures on its territory," the representative of Turkiye  said,  although he forgot that Baku was unable to present to the  International Court of Justice any real evidence of its allegations  of the transfer of weapons.

The Turkish diplomat assured that these measures were taken very  carefully for humanitarian reasons. He also spoke about the operation  of the Akna-Stepanakert road instead of the recognized Kashatag  corridor.  "Unfortunately, these sincere efforts of Baku did not  receive a response. We are concerned that the historic chance for the  full normalization of relations may be missed. We will continue to  strongly support and take an active part in the normalization of  relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We are convinced that the  solution to the problem is possible through dialogue and goodwill,"  the Turkish diplomat concluded.

In turn, the EU representative to the UN, Silvio Gonzato, expressed  concern about the situation in the corridor. "The road is not open  for humanitarian cargo, despite the decision of the UNIC. We take  into account the readiness of Azerbaijan to provide humanitarian  supplies through Aghdam, but this cannot be considered as an  alternative to the Lachin corridor. The population of  Nagorno-Karabakh needs guarantees of rights and security. The EU  again calls for direct dialogue between the Karabakh Armenians and  Baku, this is important for establishing trust," he concluded.