YEREVAN, DECEMBER 4, ARMENRESS. Foreign Minister of Armenia Ara Ayvazian gave a speech at the 27th Meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council, noting that those few Armenians who remained in the territories that were captured by Azerbaijani armed forces were killed or tortured and expelled by Azerbaijani armed forces from their ancestral homeland.
As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, FM Ayvazian particularly said,
‘’Ms. Chairperson, I would like to join colleagues and thank the Albanian Chairmanship, your team for tireless efforts and leadership of this Organization throughout the year.
The year 2020 has been marked and profoundly affected by the unprecedented challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet for the people of Artsakh and Armenia the large-scale war unleashed by Azerbaijan with the direct involvement of its allies - Turkey and foreign terrorist fighters and jihadists - added another dimension to the already dire situation.
During the 44 days of war Azerbaijan and Turkey, in a clear defiance of their international obligations and in violations of their commitments towards the OSCE, despite numerous calls made by OSCE Minsk Group Co-chair countries, despite three agreements to cease hostilities, despite persistent calls of international community, continued the offensive. The aggression was accompanied by numerous gross violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts, by war crimes including deliberate targeting of civilian population and critical infrastructure, executions, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners of war and civilian captives, beheadings, mutilation of dead bodies and other well documented crimes with the ultimate purpose of ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population from their ancestral lands.
In this context, we welcome the consensus reached on the draft Ministerial Council Decision on the Prevention and Eradication of Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which we consider as the most important outcome of this Ministerial.
Today we should acknowledge the efforts of the Russian Federation and personal engagement of President Vladimir Putin in establishing a ceasefire and stopping war also through providing peace-keeping forces on the ground. We are also grateful to France and the US for their efforts and engagement to achieve a ceasefire.
The actions of Azerbaijan and its allies created new dangerous precedent for addressing conflict situations in the area of responsibility of the OSCE.
First, it is the recruitment, transfer and deployment of foreign terrorist fighters and jihadists from Syria and Libya in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone by Turkey which flagrantly violates the international obligations and OSCE commitments on combating the phenomenon of the foreign terrorist fighters. This is the first time ever that two OSCE participating States have deployed terrorist fighters and jihadists in support of their armed forces in the context of conflict in the OSCE area of responsibility, a fact that was acknowledged not only by a number of the OSCE participating states, but the relevant UN body.
Second, Azerbaijan’s aggression against Artsakh was greatly instigated and supported politically and militarily by the Turkish leadership in its pursuit of expansionist power projection into the South Caucasus and beyond.
Third, Azerbaijan and its allies unleashed the war against Artsakh falsely claiming the legitimate right to use force, which is a clear breach of international law. Furthermore, Azerbaijan and Turkey now insist that the situation resulting from the use of force, aggression and war, large-scale violations of international law, war crimes and ethnic cleansing, should be considered as resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We strongly condemn the use of force against the right of people of Nagorno-Karabakh to self-determination and we will not accept any attempt to deprive the people of Nagorno-Karabakh of their rights.
Despite assurances that have been voiced out today as well, Armenians have been ethnically cleansed from the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh recently occupied by Azerbaijan, those few who stayed...
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