Friday, December 9 2022 18:02

ArmInfo.On December 8, the delegation at the head of President of the Artsakh Republic Arayik Harutyunyan, which is on a working visit in France, met in the city  of Lyon with vice-presidents of the Regional Council of  Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Nicolas Daragon and Thierry Kovacs and officials  of the Regional Council, the press service of the NKR President  reports.

In his remarks, President Harutyunyan noted that the development of  the bilateral relations with various administrative regions of France  was among the priorities of foreign political agenda of Artsakh, and  highlighted the need for further expansion of relationship with  Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Region that have become traditional.

During the meeting, the parties signed a joint declaration, in which  a belief is conveyed that the conflict between Azerbaijan, Armenia  and Artsakh will be resolved only through peaceful means, provided  that human rights and international agreements are respected. It also  calls on France, the European Union and the international community  to remain consolidated in order to protect the rights and territorial  integrity of Armenia and Artsakh.

The declaration states that despite the tripartite statement signed  on November 9, 2020, attacks and bombings against Armenia and Artsakh  are ongoing, which proves that Azerbaijan is never going to respect  the provisions of the declaration nor the commitments it made during  the subsequent negotiations.

"By attacking Armenia following Artsakh, bombing and particularly  targeting the civilian population and infrastructure, Azerbaijan  wants to create an extraterritorial road (corridor) by force  connecting its territory to Nakhichevan, cutting off the territory of  Artsakh and the Syunik province," the declaration emphasizes.

The Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region reaffirmed its commitment to the  principles and ideas of freedom, democracy and equality and  considered the attacks along the borders and the bombing of the  civilian population intolerable, through which Azerbaijan aims to  force Armenia to make concessions on Artsakh and accept Azerbaijani  sovereignty over Artsakh.

During the visit, the President also met with the Mayor of Lyon  Gregory Doucet.

Issues related to further development of relations with the city of  Lyon were on the discussion agenda. The Mayor of Lyon has assured  that the work on the implementation of humanitarian programs in  Artsakh will be of a continuous nature.