(MENAFN- AzerNews)
Sabina Mammadli read more The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry has called on President of the
Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers to be impartial and
refrain from actions and statements that would harm peace in the
region, Azernews reports.
In a response to the statement made by Iceland's FM and
President of the Council of Europe's Committee of Ministers,
Thórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörd Gylfadóttir, about the situation on the
Lachin-Khankandi road, the ministry noted that 'such failure to
reflect the realities on the ground is regrettable'.
'Such attitude to the peaceful protests on the Lachin road with
the demand to prevent the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's
mineral deposits, their illegal transportation to Armenia, and the
abuse of the Lachin road, the use of which is intended only for
humanitarian purposes, is incomprehensible,' the ministry said in a
statement.
The ministry once again reiterated that protests against illegal
economic and military activities on the territory of Azerbaijan are
the right of Azerbaijani citizens and should be respected. Such
statements do not contribute to peace in the region and lead to
increased tensions, the ministry added.
The statement emphasized that the claims on the alleged closure
of the Lachin road, and the creation of a“humanitarian
catastrophe” in the region are unfounded, noting that about 800
vehicles have passed through the road in the past period proving
that the road is not closed.
'Also, as we have repeatedly stated, the government of
Azerbaijan is ready to promptly resolve all humanitarian needs that
Armenian residents may have. There are also indisputable facts
about the attempts of people presenting themselves as
representatives of Armenian residents to artificially create a
humanitarian crisis by preventing Armenian residents from using the
road,' the statement stated.
The ministry also questioned the lack of response by the EU
official to the miserable humanitarian situation of hundreds of
thousands of Azerbaijanis displaced from their homes, the war
crimes of Armenia that clearly violated international humanitarian
law, to landmine threats stemming from the deployment of 2021
production landmines as a result of the abuse of the Lachin road,
that resulted in 282 Azerbaijanis becoming victims of landmines
after the second Karabakh war, as well as to the other illegal
activities.
'This is again indicative of double standards and of a selective
approach,' the ministry added.
Similarly, Spokesperson of the Ministry Aykhan Hajizada noted
that the peaceful protests held on the Lachin-Khankandi road,
demanding the prevention of the illegal exploitation of Azerbaijani
lands and misuse of the road, are legitimate.
'Paradoxically, Iceland representative at Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe dismisses human rights of hundreds of
thousands of displaced Azerbaijanis, the war crimes and brutal
violation of IHL by Armenia,' he wrote.
Meanwhile, the International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations
Committee of the Azerbaijani parliament and the Azerbaijani Members
of the European Union-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Co-operation
Committee expressed protest against the biased and unfair
resolution that the European Parliament adopted via special
procedure on 19 January 2023 in a joint statement.
Noting their strong opposition to the 'allegations resting on
lies and fabricated information', the statement added that Armenia
has not yet fulfilled its obligations envisaged in the Trilateral
Statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia
on November 10, 2020.
'It becomes clear that the pains Azerbaijan has
suffered since the signing of the Trilateral Statement to ensure
peace and security in the region come under the premeditated and
purposeful blow being dealt by those powers who chose to advocate
separatism, terrorism, and war. Those powers do not wish to see
that certain circles in Armenia and their backers are nurturing
revanchist plans and cherishing the hope that they will again
plunge the region into a calamitous maelstrom,' the statement
said.
The statement noted Armenia's provocations on the
border, the fact that it transported militants and military cargoes
as well as narcotics and mines on the Lachin-Khankandi road.
It is also mentioned in the statement that the
peaceful protest of civil activists and ecologists on the
Lachin-Khankandi road, brought about by the prevention of access to
the specified area for monitoring purposes for state officials and
experts of Azerbaijan, has been continuing for longer than a month
now. Contrary to what is stated in the resolution of the European
Parliament, there is no 'blockade' of Armenian residents on the
territory, stressing that vehicles pass freely daily through the
road.
'All that indicates clearly that certain groups within
the European Parliament act while being under the influence of the
Armenian lobby and the pro-Armenian forces. In view of all of the
above, we now urge the leadership of the European Parliament to put
an end to such devastating and biased forces, those mired in
corruption, and, instead, to support the efforts to establish peace
and stability in the region by passing unbiased documents
reflecting the new realia set in the region of the South Caucasus,'
the statement concluded.
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