(MENAFN- AzerNews) Azerbaijan is determined to defend its Sovereignty and
territorial integrity by all legal means enshrined in the UN
Charter and international law.
According to AZERNEWS, this was told by Azerbaijan's permanent
representative to the UN Yashar Aliyev at a meeting of the UN
Security Council.
“I would like to start my speech by categorically rejecting all
unsubstantiated and unsubstantiated allegations of a“blockade” or
“humanitarian crisis” spread by Armenia against my country.
What Armenia is trying to present as a humanitarian issue is in
fact a provocative and irresponsible political campaign that is
waged to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan.
It was Armenia that for almost 30 years brazenly ignored the
four relevant UN resolutions of 1993 and a number of statements by
the President of the Security Council, unequivocally demanding the
complete, immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the occupying
forces from the territory of Azerbaijan.
In this context, Armenia's actions are nothing less than the
embodiment of pre-planned political hypocrisy and its appeal to the
Security Council is part of a months-long campaign to manipulate
and mislead the international community.
If Armenia had been sincere in its desire to help, it would have
happened immediately. Recently, a few days ago, this actually
became possible practically thanks to the active participation of
international actors, including some members of the Security
Council. This did not happen only because of the refusal of
Armenia.
After a series of intensive consultations and efforts of
"shuttle diplomacy", an agreement was finally reached on the
delivery of humanitarian cargo to the Garabagh region by various
routes, as well as on organizing a meeting of special
representatives of the central government with local Armenian
residents.
In the first case, in order for the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC) to deliver humanitarian supplies to local
residents, it was necessary to remove concrete blocks and all other
physical obstacles installed by the Armenian side on the
Aghdam-Khankendi road. This was followed by an expansion of the
ICRC's use of the Lachin road within 24 hours. All parties
involved, including the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the
ICRC, were ready to begin the practical implementation of this
agreement within an hour.
In the second case, an agreement was reached to hold a meeting
between representatives of the central government and local
Armenian residents in the nearby Azerbaijani city of Yevlakh.
Unfortunately, ten days ago, on August 5, Armenia abandoned both
agreements at the last moment, putting forward politically
motivated and illegal preconditions and various excuses through its
illegitimate regime.
There is no doubt that, despite the close cooperation of
Azerbaijan with the Russian Federation, the United States, the
European Union and the ICRC to find ways out of the situation,
Armenia deliberately hinders diplomatic efforts.
There is only one explanation for this. Armenia does not intend
to resolve this issue. Instead, it artificially stirs up tensions
in the region in order to continue to manipulate and confuse the
international community.
Violation of the agreement on the delivery of humanitarian
supplies through the ICRC on August 5 is not the only obstacle. In
fact, this is a continuation of Armenia's attempt to politicize the
presence and activities of this humanitarian organization in the
territory, as well as to use humanitarian issues for political
purposes, challenging the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
Azerbaijan and preventing the reintegration of local ethnic
Armenians.
I would like to draw your attention to some of the following
facts:
-Immediately after the end of the war in 2020, Azerbaijan
offered the ICRC its logistics capabilities and infrastructure for
the delivery of goods to the Garabagh region. In 2021, the ICRC's
shipments to the area were transported to Barda. The Armenian side
refused the cargo and prevented the delivery of humanitarian aid by
the ICRC.
-Immediately after the start of protests by eco-activists on the
Lachin-Khankendi road, Azerbaijan turned to the ICRC with a request
to provide a list of goods needed by local residents, and declared
its readiness to provide all logistical and infrastructural support
for their delivery. The ICRC replied that the Armenian side did not
want any supplies through Azerbaijan.
-Abusing the mediation of the ICRC, Armenia took an
unprecedented step by trying to smuggle dual-use technologies such
as microchips into the Garabagh region. The ICRC was forced to
acknowledge this fact, which seriously damaged the committee's
humanitarian mandate and reputation.
-Armenia did not agree with the dispatch of international
medical workers of the ICRC, who are in Baku, to Khankendi. This
proposal was put forward by the ICRC to facilitate medical
evacuations and help resolve medical issues on the spot, and it was
supported by Azerbaijan.
Armenia's abuse of the ICRC for political purposes also clearly
shows that calls for an increased international presence, including
UN-affiliated organizations, have nothing to do with humanitarian
concerns, on the contrary, the goal is to get more tools to
manipulate .
The Garabagh region is an internationally recognized territory
of Azerbaijan and ethnic Armenians living there are considered
residents of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani government is determined
to guarantee and ensure that these residents have access to the
necessary goods, as well as to create appropriate living conditions
for them. These goals are fully consistent with international law
and the principles of international humanitarian law, which
testifies to Azerbaijan's unwavering commitment to comply with
these standards.
The so-called "Lachin Corridor" is a road on the sovereign
territory of Azerbaijan, it does not have any extraterritorial
status and, according to the tripartite Statement dated November
10, 2020, is intended primarily for the transportation of citizens,
goods, and the passage of vehicles. Azerbaijan, remaining committed
to its obligations under the tripartite Statement, gave permission
for movement along this road.
Azerbaijan's position remains unchanged even after the
establishment of a checkpoint on the border with Armenia.
The border checkpoint was created within the framework of the
fundamental right of Azerbaijan to protect its sovereignty and
ensure security, and is designed to prevent the rotation by Armenia
of about 10,000 military personnel illegally deployed on the
territory of Azerbaijan, to prevent the transfer of weapons,
ammunition, mines and foreign terrorists, as well as the abuse of
this route to for the purpose of illegal extraction and export of
natural resources from this territory.
The International Court of Justice, by a unanimous decision of
July 6, 2023, rejected Armenia's demand for temporary measures to
abolish the checkpoint, strongly refuting the claims of the
Armenian side about the illegality of the Lachin checkpoint.
The creation of a border checkpoint did not at all impede the
passage of the civilian population along the Lachin road. Until
June 15, 2023, the actual number of such passages has increased
markedly. On that day, the Armenian armed forces attacked the
Azerbaijani border guards and the Russian peacekeepers accompanying
them, which became another example of Armenian provocations. The
attack severely injured an Azeri border guard while posing a direct
threat to ICRC staff and civilians passing through the
checkpoint.
At the same time, if Armenia really thought about the ordinary
inhabitants of the region, then it would never object to the
delivery of goods to the Garabagh region along the Aghdam-Khankendi
road. This road is connected to one of Azerbaijan's main transport
routes, the highway known as the "Silk Road" or M2, which provides
reliable links to international markets. Compared to the 59 km
Lachin-Khankendi road, which runs along mountain serpentines, the
length of this road between Agdam and Khankendi is only 18 km.
Today, as part of a trip to Agdam, representatives of the
diplomatic corps accredited in Azerbaijan, including the office of
the UN Resident Coordinator and other UN structures, witnessed the
functioning of the road and its readiness for the transport of
goods.
The allegations of genocide are just as unfounded and false. The
manipulative, deceitful campaign of Armenia against Azerbaijan is
also reflected in the so-called "conclusion" of Luis Moreno Ocampo,
who positions himself as an independent expert.
Recently, renowned international law expert Rodney Dixon, in a
preliminary report, pointed out the fallacy of his claims. As
stated in the conclusion of Mr. Dixon, the claims put forward by
Moreno Ocampo are unfounded, incomplete and full of inaccuracies.
Thus, allegations that a genocide is being committed in the
Garabagh region of Azerbaijan are completely groundless.
Specifically, Mr. Dixon believes that Ocampo's conclusion takes a
frankly selective approach to "facts", in particular, the selective
nature of the conclusion is once again proved by the fact that it
does not mention Armenia's rejection of Azerbaijan's proposal to
use alternative ways to provide for ethnic Armenian residents .
Such manipulations under humanitarian pretexts occur at the same
time as illegal and provocative military activities are on the
rise. Over the past weeks, the Armenian armed forces, illegally
remaining on the territory of Azerbaijan, which is a gross
violation of international law, including Armenia's obligations
under paragraph 4 of the tripartite Statement of the leaders of
Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Armenia on November 10, have
intensified military engineering work and other military
activity.
Of particular concern is the use of electronic warfare equipment
illegally placed on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. In
recent weeks, civil aircraft not only of Azerbaijan Airlines, but
also of foreign countries have been subjected to electronic
interference, which has created a serious threat to their
safety.
Armenia must put an end to actions that threaten the sovereignty
and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, refrain from interfering
in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan, and join the negotiations on
post-conflict normalization with all sincerity. It is vital that
the historic opportunity for sustainable peace in the region not be
missed.
Oral statements by the Armenian leadership on the recognition of
the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including
the Garabagh region, have created ground for cautious optimism that
peace is indeed achievable. Now Armenia needs to turn this
statement into a real action and stop questioning the sovereignty
of Azerbaijan, including under the pretext of "humanitarian needs"
of the local Armenian residents of the Garabagh region of
Azerbaijan.
Over the past few months, joint efforts to intensify the
normalization process, with the active participation of
international partners, have yielded encouraging results. This
diplomatic dialogue has played a decisive role in overcoming
differences and achieving noticeable progress on a number of points
of a future bilateral agreement aimed at establishing lasting peace
and interstate relations.
Azerbaijan pursues a policy of reintegration of the ethnic
Armenians of the Garabagh region as equal citizens and guarantees
all the rights and freedoms provided for by the Constitution of
Azerbaijan and all relevant international human rights mechanisms
signed by Azerbaijan. We are determined to defend our sovereignty
and territorial integrity by all legal means enshrined in the UN
Charter and international law, just as we are committed to these
two noted paths.
We are confident that the international community and, above
all, the Security Council will support this approach based on
equality and mutual respect, in accordance with the legitimate
interests of both countries through mutual recognition and respect
for the sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of
each other's borders," Aliyev said in his speech.