1 / 1

On February 24-25, the Winter Meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) began, and the Head of the RA NA delegation to OSCE PA Eduard Aghajanyan took part in its works in Vienna. The Armenian delegate delivered a speech at the joint meeting, particularly noting:

“Madam President, dear colleagues,

Indeed, we are all deeply concerned by the current developments in Ukraine because any war is a tragedy, which implies multiple lost lives, casualties, and other losses.

Similarly, the war of aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan on 27 September 2020, in the midst of a global pandemic had its tragic consequences and has seriously undermined the credibility of the OSCE.

More than a year after the signing of the trilateral ceasefire statement on 9 November 2020, the prospects for peace in the region are still elusive. Azerbaijan continues its aggressive actions, such as the incursion into the sovereign territory of Armenia, the constant military escalation and ceasefire violations along the state border, the continued illegal detention of Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives, and the destruction and misappropriation of Armenian cultural heritage, which cannot be regarded as indications of Azerbaijan’s readiness to build trust and confidence.

Contrary to Azerbaijan, Armenia has proven on several occasions, that it is ready to undertake real steps towards lasting peace in the region. We believe that first and foremost, in order to achieve this goal, the sides should uphold to their obligations derived from the trilateral statements signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and the Russian Federation.

Unfortunately,there is a clear discrepancy between Azerbaijan’s declared intention of peaceful co-existence and its real actions. Azerbaijan continuously falsifies or misinterprets several provisions of the trilateral agreements, sometimes even blatantly inventing new ones, which have nothing to do either with the content or with the spirit of those documents. One of such inventions is the so-called “Zangezur corridor,” which one cannot find in any of the three trilateral statements, and which is a direct act of threat and terror towards sovereignty of Armenia.

Dear colleagues, the current situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is the result of a flagrant violation by Azerbaijan of several core principles of the Helsinki Final Act, namely, refraining from the threat or use of force, as well as the peaceful settlement of disputes. No one should be under any illusion that the results of the use of force, accompanied by war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law, can ever become the basis for lasting and sustainable peace. Such peace can be achieved in the region only through a comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship.”