Saturday, October 17 2020 17:32

ArmInfo.On the initiative of the Armenian delegation, the agenda of the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on October 16 included the issue of  "Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh with the participation of  Turkey and foreign terrorist fighters."

According to the message of  the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the OSCE, during the discussion,  the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the  Organization of Armen Papikyan first informed the representatives of  the OSCE participating States about the latest events in the zone of  the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, including the situation at the front,  and in terms of political and diplomatic contacts.

Papikyan stated that three weeks after the large-scale aggression  initiated by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, it is obvious that the  enemy's blitzkrieg had failed. At the same time, he stressed that  Azerbaijan would never have embarked on this adventure if it had not  enlisted the military and political support of Turkey and mercenary  terrorists.

He also added that the October 10 joint trilateral humanitarian  ceasefire statement caused a weak optimism in the Armenian society,  given the previous cases of Azerbaijan's failure to comply with its  obligations. In this vein, Papikyan stated that immediately after the  announcement of the ceasefire, the intensity of Azerbaijan's  offensive operations increased even more.

The ambassador also spoke about the purposeful delivery of strikes by  the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on settlements and civilian  infrastructure of Artsakh, as a result of which there are many  casualties among the civilian population.

Papikyan presented the losses among the population of Artsakh and the  damage caused to property and infrastructure. He also reported that  thousands of women and children, old people, people with disabilities  today live in conditions of constant threat to life - psychological  terror.

The RA Permanent Representative to the OSCE also informed about the  shelling of the sovereign territory of Armenia from Azerbaijan,  noting that the Armenian Armed Forces, following the logic of Baku,  can now attack any military facility on Azerbaijani territory.

"Armenia has always stressed that in order to conduct a constructive  dialogue, to continue the negotiation process, first of all, it is  necessary to exclude the use of force or the threat of the use of  force. And today Azerbaijan must immediately stop hostilities,"  Papikyan said, also touching on the Turkish factor in the escalation  of the situation.

The Armenian diplomat stated that today Turkey has become the main  obstacle to the cessation of hostilities in the zone of the Karabakh  conflict. He recalled that contrary to Moscow's statements, the  Turkish leadership continues to urge Azerbaijan to continue military  aggression. According to him, the Turkish-Azerbaijani leadership is  pursuing a policy of exterminating the people of Artsakh.

Another new factor in the conflict, Papikyan called the involvement  of foreign terrorist fighters who are fighting against Armenians as  part of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces. According to him, despite the  fact that Baku and Ankara deny this fact, according to various  sources, up to 4,000 terrorist fighters are fighting on the side of  Azerbaijan, and as of October 5, 107 of them were killed.

"Today we have an OSCE member state that uses armed terrorists in its  wars. Moreover, Turkey, through its recruitment scheme, finances  terrorists, contributes to the spread of terrorist groups and  terrorist fighters around the world. Through its sense of loyalty,  these groups become a puppet army Turkey, which can be deployed in  various parts of the world, where the participation of armed forces  is impractical. Syria, Libya, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. The  question is, what will be the next region? ", The Armenian diplomat  asked.

He stressed that today the people of Artsakh and Armenia are fighting  international terrorism, fighting states that do not shy away from  using terrorists and jihadists. "To stop such methods of Turkey's  actions, the international community must condemn such behavior more  harshly and targetedly. In order for Turkey and Azerbaijan to abandon  such a policy, the international community must take more targeted  measures," Papikyan said, adding that this recent aggression by  Azerbaijan leaves no more doubt that Artsakh can never be a part of  Azerbaijan in any capacity, and recognition of the independence of  Artsakh is a necessity.