Aivazian: Russia played a key role in stopping the  Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression against the people of Nagorno-  Karabakh

ArmInfo. Russia played a key role in stopping the Turkish- Azerbaijani aggression unleashed against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted for more than 6  weeks.  Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Aivazian stated this on  December 7 at a press conference following the talks with Russian  Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

In this vein, he recalled that with the personal mediation of Russian  President Vladimir Putin, it became possible to agree and conclude a  joint trilateral statement on November 9, which made it possible to  cease fire on the ground and deploy the Russian peacekeeping  contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh.

At the same time, Aivazian believes that the presence of Russian  peacekeepers creates conditions for the restoration of stability and  tranquility in the region, and also serves as a guarantee of  preventing provocations from Azerbaijan, its regional sponsor Turkey  and foreign militant-terrorists recruited by them.

At the same time, the RA Foreign Minister believes that the cessation  of hostilities opens up opportunities for the resumption of  discussions within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group on the  restoration of the peace process.

"We also discussed a set of issues caused by the extremely difficult  humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, which has arisen as a  result of targeted and methodical shelling of the Azerbaijani armed  forces of peaceful settlements and important civilian infrastructure.  We are grateful to Russia for the prompt and effective solution of  humanitarian issues," the Armenian minister said , in this context,  pointing out the importance of attracting international specialized  organizations to address humanitarian issues.

He pointed out the priority of the issue of exchanging captured and  prisoners of war, the bodies of dead servicemen, as well as the  search for missing persons, pointing out the need for an urgent  solution to this issue.  Recalling Armenia's readiness to carry out  an exchange on the principle of "all for all", Aivazian expressed  hope that the Azerbaijani side will not try to disrupt the process. 

He also pointed to the inhuman treatment of prisoners of war and held  civilians by Azerbaijan.  "Our prisoners of war and civilians who did  not have time to leave their homes are subjected to cruel torture and  beheaded alive in exactly the same way as ISIS did with hostages in  the Middle East. Outrageous manifestation of vandalism and sacrilege  is observed in relation to Armenian monuments and religious sites,  churches and temples in Artsakh," the Armenian diplomat said, while  pointing out the surge of a new wave of Armenophobia in the  Azerbaijani society, which has been imposed by the leadership of  Azerbaijan for decades.  

At the same time, he stated that, in fact, Turkey, which is the main  instigators of the war in Karabakh, continues to pursue a policy that  is detrimental to the region, forcing the international community to  use all possible levers to force Ankara to refrain from any actions  that could further aggravate tension. Aivazian stressed that Turkey  should withdraw its armed personnel and its affiliated groups from  the zone of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the South Caucasus as a  whole. 

In this regard, the Armenian minister stated that there are no clear  signals about the withdrawal of foreign terrorist fighters from the  region, meanwhile there is reliable information about Azerbaijan's  intention to populate the occupied territories of Artsakh with  militant - terrorists.  

At the same time, Aivazian pointed out the importance of restoring  all the rights of the 150,000 population of Artsakh. "In the context  of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, I would like to  very clearly note that the principle of self- determination of the  people of Artsakh lies at the heart of the settlement of the  conflict. Armenia has acted and continues to speak from the position  of the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and  security. Long-term and lasting settlement of the conflict should be  achieved through negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk  Group," Aivazian summed up.