Friday, July 31 2020 22:21

ArmInfo.  On July 30 in Vienna, the  agenda of the OSCE Permanent Council meeting on the initiative of the  Armenian delegation included an issue entitled "Turkey's aggressive  policy and militaristic behavior as a factor destabilizing in the  South Caucasus." 

Permanent Representative of Armenia, Ambassador Armen Papikyan, at  the beginning of his speech, informed the OSCE participating States  about the cases of ceasefire violations by Azerbaijan in recent days,  as a result of which one serviceman of the Armenian Armed Forces was  mortally wounded by sniper fire, and another soldier was wounded.  

Then the Abassador reported on Azerbaijan's statement on holding  joint Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises, stressing that all  these actions were carried out a few days after the statement of the  OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs, in which the co-chairs stressed the  importance of strict adherence to the ceasefire regime and called on  to refrain from any provocative actions. 

Consequently, the Armenian side views these joint exercises as a  joint provocation aimed at increasing tension in the region. In this  regard, Papikyan also stressed that the leadership of Azerbaijan  devalues the efforts of international mediators to ease tensions and  resume the peace process, bearing full responsibility for the  consequences of destabilization.

Referring to the role of Turkey, the Abassador noted that without the  unconditional support of this country, Azerbaijan will not be able to  maintain tension on the border with Armenia for a long time. And  proceeding from these considerations, Armenia draws the attention of  the OSCE participating States to the aggressive policy and  militaristic behavior of Turkey, directed, in particular, towards  Armenia and the South Caucasus region as a whole.  

The Turkish behavior directed against Armenia is evidenced by its  large-scale involvement in Nakhchivan. The role of Turkey in the  recent clashes on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be  ignored either. Turkey was the only country that expressed its open  and unconditional support for Azerbaijan's military adventure against  Armenia. 

Then Papikyan presented the statements of the Turkish authorities  made by President Erdogan, the foreign and defense ministers, which  differed sharply from the tone and content of the statements of the  officials of the international community. The Permanent  Representative of Armenia noted that such statements of Turkey, in  addition to encouraging tensions, also testify to the regional  aspirations of this country towards the South Caucasus, which the  Turkish leadership is trying to justify with the so-called  "historical mission". 

For Armenia and the Armenian people, these approaches are reminiscent  of the Armenian Genocide and cause concern for the people and  authorities of Armenia.

The Abassador also touched upon the behavior of Turkey in the  Karabakh conflict. In particular, he noted that this country, being a  member of the OSCE Minsk Group, nevertheless always played a  destructive role. Turkey's undisguised support for Azerbaijan's  maximalist approaches in the process of resolving the Karabakh  conflict and the provocative and unilateral behavior of this country  harm the peace process and indicate that Turkey cannot be involved in  any conflict settlement process. 

Papikyan also touched upon the issue of the participation of Turkish  inspectors in the status of invited or inspection visits to be held  on the territory of Armenia within the framework of the CFE Treaty,  introduced by the Permanent Mission of Armenia on July 29, and the  Vienna Document. 

In this regard, Ambassador Papikyan noted that for years Armenia has  received similar inspection visits, which were mainly carried out  along the border of Armenia and Azerbaijan. But taking into account  the obvious anti-Armenian behavior of Turkey, as well as the  sensitivity of information in the current conditions in terms of  ensuring the security of the population of Armenia and Armenia, the  Republic of Armenia decided to stop Turkish military inspection  visits to Armenia within the framework of the CFE Treaty and the  Vienna Document.  Along with all this, Armenia reaffirms the  importance of arms control mechanisms as an essential instrument of  predictability, transparency and accountability, provided that they  are applied in accordance with the spirit of these mechanisms.