Armenia’s foreign ministry said Thursday that anti-Armenian statements made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an address to the Azerbaijani parliament threaten the security of the entire region.

Official Yerevan also said that an alliance between Turkey and Azerbaijan announced earlier this week when Erdogan traveled to Shushi was against the self-determination of the people of Artsakh and Armenia’s territorial integrity and contain threats of genocide against Armenians in the region.

Below is a translated version of the foreign ministry statement.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry has already issued a statement strongly condemning the joint visit of the presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan to the currently occupied city of Shushi in the Republic of Artsakh, and described the visit as an outright provocation against regional peace and security.

The declaration signed by the presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan in Shushi, as well as the remarks made by Turkey’s president in Azerbaijan’s are equally deplorable and provocative. 

Although one of the provisions of the Turkish-Azerbaijani declaration states that the document is not directed against a third party, its entire content targets the Armenian people. It clearly reveals that the two states—which launched a 44-day aggression against the Republic of Artsakh—have made an alliance against the self-determination of the people of Artsakh, the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, and the rights of the Armenian people around the world who survived the Genocide.

Using the “Zangezur Corridor” in the declaration proves that Turkey and Azerbaijan, encouraged by the impunity of their joint aggression and mass atrocities committed against the people of Artsakh, are now making public agreements against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia. The agreement by the two states to fight against the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide is equally worrisome.
 
The aforementioned agreements completely contradict the irrefutable norms of general international law. In this respect we should emphasize that according to international law, particularly the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties of 1969, all international treaties that conflict with a peremptory norm of general international law are void and can have no international legitimacy.

It is worth noting that this declaration is based not on the United Nations Charter or the comprehensive and indivisible concept of security of the OSCE, but on their approach of “kinship security,” which is promoted as a principle to unify “Turkic world.”

The anti-Armenian statements expressed by the Turkish president in the Parliament of Azerbaijan on creating a platform for regional cooperation are hypocritical and misleading.

The public agreements between the Presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan contain not only genocidal threats against the Armenian people in the region, but also pose a serious challenge for all countries interested in international and regional peace and security, that necessitates close cooperation among all these countries.

The situation deriving from the use of force and aggression against the people of Artsakh cannot become a basis for lasting peace, just as various made-up Turkish-Azerbaijani initiatives in Shushi cannot cut off this Armenian cultural center from Artsakh and the Armenian people.