Monday, September 25 2023 09:47

ArmInfo. Below is a statement by Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan at the 78th  session of the United Nations General Assembly. 

Honorable Mr. President, 

Excellences,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all, let me congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on assuming the  Presidency of the 78th session of the United Nations General  Assembly.

I will not be the first and definitely not the last speaker in this  august body who will identify global threats for democracies,  challenges for security, violations of the principles and purposes of  the UN Charter, including non-use of force and peaceful resolution of  conflicts, as a main source of instability and tension in the world.

The devastating developments of the past years, which disrupted the  security architecture in the world and especially in Europe, have  significantly damaged multilateralism. If a couple of years ago we  were contemplating the decline of multilateralism, today we see  erosion of that very tenet and its foundation such as international  law, human rights and cooperative security.

This is not just a theoretical inference but a reality with which the  Armenian people in the South Caucasus are coping for the last three  years. The repetitive aggression of Azerbaijan against the sovereign  territory of the Republic of Armenia and military attacks against the  people of Nagorno-Karabakh significantly disrupts peace and stability  in our region, massively violates human rights and humanitarian law  representing existential threat for Armenians.

My government, having a sincere belief and aspiration to establish  peace and stability in our region, has made significant and duly  recorded efforts to this end. Alas, we do not have a partner for  peace but a country who openly declares that "Might has Right" and  constantly uses force to disrupt the peace process.  Literally a year  ago, from this very stage the PM of Armenia presented the fact of  aggression and occupation of the Republic of Armenia's sovereign  territories by neighboring Azerbaijan. Since then, the situation has  deteriorated even more and today I have to present yet another very  recent act of large-scale offensive, this time against the indigenous  people of Nagorno-Karabakh, in blatant violation of the international  law and Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020. 

It happened this week and the timing was not accidental. It shows  open disregard and defiance of Azerbaijan against the international  community who gathered here in New York. The message is clear:  "you  can talk about peace and we can go to war and you will not be able to  change anything." The 120,000 people, whose sole aspiration is to  live and create in peace and dignity in their ancestral homeland and  who have already been suffering under the more than 9-month blockade  and siege by Azerbaijan, were subjected to military attack by tens of  thousands of troops. In the course of this inhumane attack, the whole  territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, Stepanakert and other towns and  settlements came under intense and indiscriminate shelling with heavy  weaponry such as rockets, artillery, combat UAVs, aviation, including  prohibited cluster munition. 

This atrocious large-scale offensive which claimed hundreds of lives,  including of women and children, was cynically defined as a local  counter terrorist operation. According to the recent information  there are confirmed cases of more than 200 killed and 400 wounded,  including among civilian population, women and children, also  accepted by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fate of  hundreds of people is uncertain.

As I speak today, 30 percent of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh is  displaced. The entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh remains without  any means of subsistence, as just limited humanitarian assistance has  been able to enter into Nagorno-Karabakh. There is no food, no  medicine, no shelter, no place to go, separated from their families,  terrorized and scared for their lives.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The policy and actions of Azerbaijan for the last 10 months,  evidently demonstrate the pre-planned and well-orchestrated nature of  this mass atrocity. On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan blockaded the  Lachin corridor - the only road, the lifeline connecting  Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outer world, in blatant violation  of its obligations under the international humanitarian law and the  Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020. The blockade was further  consolidated by the installation of illegal check-point since April  23, as well as with the complete cessation of any movement, even for  humanitarian aid through the Corridor since June 15.

More than 9 months-long blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh caused a severe  shortage of food, medical supplies, fuel and other essential goods,  almost depleting the resources necessary for the survival of the  population. The blockade was accompanied by deliberate disruption of  electricity and natural gas supplies, further exacerbating the  situation into a full-fledged humanitarian crisis.

I would like to emphasize that on 22 February, 2023 the International  Court of Justice indicated a provisional measure, according to which  "Azerbaijan shall take all measures to ensure unimpeded movement of  persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin corridor in both  directions". This order was later reconfirmed by the Court's order of  6 July. 

A number of partner states, international organizations, including UN  Special Rapporteurs, the International Committee of the Red Cross,  Human Rights Watch, Freedom House, Amnesty International,  Transparency International had been continuously voicing an alarm  about the deteriorating situation on the ground. Moreover, on August  16, during the emergency meeting of the United Nations Security  Council conveyed by the request of Armenia, the majority of UNSC  member states expressed clear position regarding the need to unblock  the Lachin corridor and halt the suffering of the people of  Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure their fundamental human rights. Whereas,  in response to these clear-cut calls, Azerbaijan has worsened its  inhumane actions by launching this military attack against the people  of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

On September 21, 2023, the United Nations Security Council gathered  once again to discuss the devastating situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.  The majority of the UNSC members expressed their position regarding  the imperative of cessation of hostilities by Azerbaijan, opening of  the Lachin corridor, ensuring international humanitarian access and  addressing the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-  Karabakh. 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

The chronology of truly devastating developments in our region come  to prove that the issues cannot be addressed merely with statements  and generic calls. Armenia has repeatedly warned the international  community about the need for concrete and practical action, including  the dispatching of a UN inter-agency needs assessment and  fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh. But the international  community, the United Nations failed to come to the rescue of people  for the last 9 months, 285 days.

The use of starvation as a method of warfare, depriving people of  their means of subsistence, obstruction and denial of humanitarian  access of UN agencies, hindering the ICRC humanitarian activities,  constitute early warning signs of an atrocity crime. A number of  international human rights organizations, lawyers, genocide scholars,  reputable independent experts, including the former ICC Prosecutor  and the former Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General on the  Prevention of Genocide have already characterized the situation on  the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh as a risk of genocide. Just yesterday,  the Special Advisor of the UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of  Genocide Alice Wairimu Nderitu stressed and I quote:  "Military  action can only contribute to escalate what is already a tense  situation and to put the civilian population in the area at risk of  violence, including risk of genocide and related atrocity crimes. All  efforts need to be made to prevent violence and sustain peace", end  of quote.

Let me draw your attention to the fact that after failure of  preventing Genocide in Rwanda, the United Nations managed to create  mechanisms for prevention, thus making the "never again" a meaningful  pledge.  But today we are at the brink of another failure.

The people of Nagorno-Karabakh, trapped in this inhumane blockade and  hostilities inflicted by Azerbaijan and under the threat of their  very existence, still hope that prevention will not remain a feature  of language, but will become a line of actions.

The claims that the United Nations is not present on the ground, so  has no capacity to verify the situation cannot be an excuse for  inaction. The United Nations is a universal body, which should stand  with the victims of mass atrocity crimes all over the world  regardless of the status of territory instead of delivering  dismissive statements.

We are hopeful that the international community, namely the UN will  demonstrate a strong political will to condemn the resumption of  hostilities and targeting of civilian settlements and infrastructure  and demand full compliance with obligations under the international  humanitarian law, including those related to the protection of  civilians, in particular women and children, and critical civilian  infrastructureú

The international community should undertake all the efforts for an  immediate deployment of an interagency mission by the UN to  Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim to monitor and assess the human rights,  humanitarian and security situation on the ground. The unimpeded  access of the UN agencies and other international organizations to  Nagorno-Karabakh in line with the humanitarian principles is an  imperative.  In this regard we also stress the need to ensure full  cooperation of the parties in good faith with the International  Committee of the Red Cross to address the consequences of the  military attack, including the removal and identification of the  bodies, search and rescue of missing personnel and civilians, release  of POWs, safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance, in  strict compliance with the international humanitarian law.

Azerbaijan must finally adhere to its legally binding obligations and  ensure freedom of movement of persons, vehicles and cargo, along the  Lachin corridor, in line with the ICJ orders. 

We firmly believe that relevant mechanisms must be introduced to  ensure the return of persons displaced in the course of the recent  military attack, as well as persons and refugees displaced as a  result of 2020 war, to their homes in the territory of  Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions under the monitoring and  control of the UN relevant agencies, as it was foreseen in the  Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020.

A sustainable and viable international mechanism for preventing the  ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population of Nagorno-Karabakh and  for ensuring dialogue between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and  official Baku to address the issues related to rights and security of  the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is an imperative. Furthermore,  excluding punitive actions against NK political and military  representatives and personnel should be guaranteed. 

We also believe that the international community must demand the exit  of any Azerbaijani military and law-enforcement bodies from all  civilian settlements in NK to exclude panic, provocations and  escalation, endangering civilian population and create a possibility  for a United Nations-mandated Peacekeeping Force to keep stability  and security in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The ethnic cleansing policy against Nagorno-Karabakh is just a part  of a bigger picture. In this regard we clearly see an intention to  involve the Republic of Armenia in military actions thus widening the  geography of hostilities into our sovereign territories. 

The unwillingness of Azerbaijan to genuinely and constructively  engage in the peace process with Armenia, including to recognize the  territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, withdraw its Armed  forces from the occupied territories of Armenia, delimitate the  Armenian-Azerbaijani interstate borders based on the latest available  maps from 1975 corresponding with Almaty 1991 declaration, create a  demilitarized zone along the interstate border, clearly illustrates  the mentioned intentions.

Likewise, Azerbaijan has a hidden agenda when it comes to unblocking  regional transport and economic communications. As a landlocked  country, Armenia is vitally interested in implementation of the  agreement on the unblocking of all the regional communications on the  basis of sovereignty, national jurisdiction, equality and  reciprocity. Armenia is a long-standing advocate of the inclusive and  equitable transport connectivity with the view to promote trade,  cooperation and people-to-people contacts, whereas our neighbors  continue to impose the three decades-long blockade of Armenia, as  part of its well- established policy of economic coercion of my  country. The so-called "corridor" logic promoted by Baku and their  hidden and open sponsors is aimed at undermining the sovereignty and  territorial integrity of Armenia and justifying its territorial  claims. The narrative generated by them along with the use of force  by Azerbaijan both against the Republic of Armenia and the people of  Nagorno-Karabakh shows that forcefully imposing on Armenia an  extraterritorial corridor, a corridor that will pass through the  territory of Armenia but will be out of our control can be the next  target. This is unacceptable for us and should be unacceptable for  the international community. 

Mr. President,

Despite all the challenges Armenia continues to engage in the  negotiations to achieve normalization of relations and establishment  of lasting peace in the region and supports the efforts of the  international partners to this end. Respect for territorial integrity  and sovereignty within the internationally recognized borders,  addressing the underlying causes of the conflict, namely the rights  and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are the foundation of  a lasting peace. 

In the end, let me state that the people of Armenia will firmly stand  for our sovereignty, independence and democracy and will overcome the  hybrid-war unleashed against us.

I thank you.