
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the MFA Armenia, Mnatsakanyan particularly said,
‘’ Mr. President,
I join in the commemoration of the 70th Anniversary of the signature of the European Convention on Human Rights – a cornerstone treaty in protecting rights and freedoms of hundreds of millions of Europeans. We share the vision of the Council of Europe that the Convention shall cover all Europeans, notwithstanding the status of the territory they live in. Sadly, it is not the case.
In late September Azerbaijan launched a large-scale aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh with the direct involvement of Turkey and foreign terrorist fighters, resorting to violations of the international humanitarian law aimed at annihilating the indigenous people of Artsakh. The deployment by Turkey of terrorist fighters to Azerbaijan is in violation of at least three Council of Europe treaties, to which both states are parties.
Tens of thousands have now been displaced – children, women, elderly, people with disabilities, their houses, infrastructure, religious sites destroyed.
The ill treatment and execution of prisoners of war by Azerbaijani armed forces and its terrorist allies constitute serious war crimes. This was acknowledged by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights who expressed serious concerns on the summarily execution of Armenian prisoners of war by Azerbaijani troops.
Furthermore, Azerbaijani armed forces set on fire forests with the use of white phosphorus, contradicting our recent efforts related to environment and human rights. There is a humanitarian crisis in Artsakh, just as the Secretary General warned.
We shared her assessments. Just as we agreed with the positions of the Commissioner for Human Rights and the PACE.
We agree that a ceasefire needs to be reached. We tried a few times, but Azerbaijan broke it. We agree that hate speech should be abandoned. But we’ve been living with anti-Armenian hate speech in two of our neighbours for decades. It is well reflected in the monitoring reports of the Council of Europe. We agree with the need to allow journalists to cover the war on the ground. We have accredited hundreds of international journalists who went and saw the destruction, the humanitarian catastrophe. Some of them were deliberately targeted by Azerbaijan.
Indeed, we agree with your assessments, with your sta...
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