Two ways of lifting blockade of Lachin corridor - Ararat Mirzoyan 

ArmInfo. On January 24, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan delivered remarks at the discussion held by Committee on Foreign Affairs of the  European Parliament, where he noted:

"Dear Chairman,

First of all, thank you for accommodating our request to have an  exchange of views in this format. It's definitely not the first time  that AFET is focusing its attention on Armenia. Nevertheless, I  highly value this opportunity to address the AFET in person and have  an open discussion.

Dear members of the European Parliament, dear colleagues,

I would like to continue with sincere words of gratitude to the  European Parliament as a whole and to each of you personally, for the  clear positions on issues of utmost importance to my country.

The holding of urgency debates and adoption of resolutions in the  course of the past two years on the issues of the Armenian prisoners  of war, the destruction of cultural heritage and most recently the  humanitarian consequences of the blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh, were  all adequate and objective responses to the unprecedented challenges  that the people in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are facing,  challenges that also continue to threaten the stability and security  in our region. All of them were perfectly summed up in the 2022 CFSP  report. For that, I would like to extend special thanks to you, Mr  McAllister and all MEPs who worked on this report and contributed to  the inclusion of the paragraphs on Armenia, Nagorno- Karabakh which  objectively reflect the situation in our region.

Of course, I could not but welcome the unambiguous statements and  every vote in the European Parliament cast in favour of resolving the  mentioned humanitarian issues. Your strong voice was heard in Armenia  and Nagorno-Karabakh. I hope it was heard and heeded in Baku as well.  I really hope that other European Institutions will be brave and fair  enough as the European Parliament regarding the issues of the South  Caucasus.

The strong and clear messages from the European Union, including its  legislative body, are truly important:  firstly, the EU remains  Armenia's primary partner in promoting the institution-building and  supporting our reform agenda based on our shared values, and  secondly, despite all the challenges, we continue to expand the scope  of our partnership based on the EU's commitment to contribute to the  stability in our region.

We do believe that our security architecture cannot be comprehensive  without respect for human rights and democracy. We've been  undertaking reforms aimed at strengthening human rights and rule of  law, consolidating good governance and fighting against corruption,  aiming to ensure prosperity for our people.  I have many things to  say about Armenia's achievements in democratic reforms however today  I won't go into details due to time constraints. I can reassure you  that we are committed to continuing the path of democratic reforms  and hope for further support from our partners.

With regard to the EU's valuable contribution to the stability of our  region, I would like to applaud Foreign Affairs Council for  yesterday's decision to deploy a long-term Monitoring mission to  Armenia. I would like to highlight that this mission is about human  security - people living in the bordering regions, children going to  schools, farmers carrying out their agricultural duties, and families  that want to live in their houses without fear of being targeted.  Concrete people, concrete schools, concrete houses.

Dear colleagues,

For the last two years, the Armenian government, receiving the vote  of our citizens to pursue peace agenda and having the political will  to normalize relations with Azerbaijan, has been engaged in good  faith in talks on three separate tracks: first, the opening of all  transport communications in the region, second, delimitation and  border security, and the third, the agreement on normalization of  relations or peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Without  overloading you with all the details, I would like to bring to your  attention a few points.

Right after the establishment of a working group on the opening of  communications, Azerbaijan, self- interpreting the text of the  Trilateral Statement of November 9th 2020, started to demand an  extraterritorial corridor. I want to state that Armenia is ready to  open all communications at the very moment when Azerbaijan will  accept that the roads should be operating under the sovereignty and  jurisdiction of the states they are passing through.

Months after the establishment of Commissions on the delimitation of  borders, Azerbaijan not only raised new territorial claims but also  tried to justify its last aggression with a fake argument that the  border is not delimited. Ironically, these Commissions were  established after the first Azerbaijani invasion into the sovereign  territory of Armenia in May 2021, aiming also to prevent any further  hostilities.

Third, we started to negotiate the text of a peace treaty between the  Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. Regrettably, the  vast majority of fundamental suggestions on the peace treaty proposed  by the Armenian side have been rejected by Azerbaijan.

Among the suggestions are clarification of parameters for the  delimitation of the state border, as we think that without clearly  agreed parameters on the delimitation of the international borders  between Armenia and Azerbaijan, real peace is impossible. Next is the  distancing of forces from the state border and the creation of a  demilitarized zone for preventing any possible future escalation as  well as confidence-building measures and security mechanism,  Institute of Guarantor(s) of the Peace treaty, which will ensure the  implementation of the obligations.

In a nutshell, Azerbaijan expects Armenia to only accept all its  demands, and when not getting it, Azerbaijan uses all possible  instruments of pressure: from keeping Armenian POWs as hostages to  the state-sponsored spread of hate speech against Armenians, from  warmongering rhetoric to concrete use of force.

We accepted Azerbaijan's suggestion to discuss the normalisation of  relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the Nagorno-Karabakh  issue in parallel, separate tracks. In contrast, Azerbaijan started  to claim that Nagorno-Karabakh is their internal issue, opposing  Armenia's concrete suggestion to create an international mechanism of  talks between Baku and Stepanakert.

It is also clear that so far Azerbaijan's actions, including the  blockade of the Lachin corridor, once again have proven the absolute  necessity of international engagement to address the issues of rights  and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Dear colleagues,

At this very moment, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh remain under  inhumane siege because of the blockade of the Lachin corridor - the  lifeline, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.   Having had the urgency debate and adopted the resolution on the  "Humanitarian consequences of the blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh" last  week, you are well aware of the situation.

There is one aspect that I would like to emphasize: it is not an  isolated episode but must be seen as part of a widespread and  systematic policy of Azerbaijan aimed at the ethnic cleansing of the  people of Nagorno- Karabakh. By creating unbearable living  conditions, Azerbaijan aims to coerce the people of Nagorno- Karabakh  to leave their homes and native land. The recent statement of the  President of Azerbaijan suggesting the deportation of those Armenians  who do not want to become citizens of Azerbaijan comes to prove once  again their intention of ethnic cleansing.

As the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh is worsening with each  passing day, the immediate intervention of the international  community is required. As indicated in the EP urgency resolution last  week, it is imperative to send an international fact-finding mission  to Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor to assess the  humanitarian situation on the ground, as well as to ensure unhindered  humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh for relevant UN bodies.

We cannot stand by and watch how people are slowly starving to death,  because of political games and perhaps geopolitical considerations.  Let me put it straight: there are two theoretical options for lifting  the blockade of the Lachin corridor: military or diplomatic. Armenia  adheres to the second option, but that's possible only with a  decisive intervention and strong pressure on Azerbaijan and tangible  actions towards that end by the international community. The time to  act is now. Azerbaijan should face consequences for its actions. It  should be explained to Azerbaijan that there are certain  international rules to which everybody has to abide".

Following the remarks, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan  answered the questions of the members of the European Parliament.