AZERBAIJAN BEARS FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MILITARY ESCALATION OF CONFLICT – ARMAN KIRAKOSSIAN
12:30 27/03/2015 >> POLITICS
On March 26, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the OSCE,
Ambassador Arman Kirakossian delivered a speech at the Meeting of
the OSCE Permanent Council, the press service of Armenian Foreign
Ministry reported.
Ambassador Kirakossian touched upon the military infiltration on March
19 of the Azerbaijani armed forces along the Line of Contact in the
Martakert region of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which resulted in
four casualties of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army. He stressed that
the response of the armed unit of the Defense Army inflicted numerous
losses on the Azerbaijani subversive group and that Azerbaijan tries to
hide its military losses, officially restricting access of journalists
and representatives of civil society to borderline settlements.
Mr Kirakossian noted that for the first time since the ceasefire was
established Azerbaijan used artillery with caliber of 120 mm, which
indicates Baku’s intention to further escalate the situation. Such
deliberate actions of Azerbaijan are aimed at undermining of the
ceasefire regime, established by the trilateral ceasefire agreements
in May 1994 and February 1995, shifting the military balance.
Ambassador Kirakossian stressed that this alarming development
should be a matter of close attention of Minsk Group Co-Chairs and
the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office.
Ambassador Kirakossian noted that while the world marks the
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the
Azerbaijani leadership sends the messages of hatred and xenophobia. In
this regard, he quoted the statements by the President and Minister of
Defense of Azerbaijan, where they voiced claims to the territory of
the capital of Armenia and other territories and overtly expressed
their intention to settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through
military aggression.
The Permanent Representative of Armenia highlighted that physical
survival of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh and protection from
mass atrocities are under responsibilities of the Nagorno-Karabakh
authorities. He recalled that no indigenous population survived
in those parts of Nagorno-Karabakh which fell under the control
of Azerbaijani armed forces. In this context, Arman Kirakossian
stated that Azerbaijan strives to resume the military phase of the
conflict to suppress the right of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to
self-determination through use of force.
Condemning power policy of the Azerbaijani leadership, the Ambassador
stressed that Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the military
escalation of the conflict and its consequences. He reiterated
Armenia’s firm position that consolidation of ceasefire by implying
confidence-building measures is crucial to advance peace talks.