20:44,

YEREVAN, MARCH 24, ARMENPRESS. At the initiative of the Armenian mission to the OSCE, the issue of "Azerbaijan's continuous aggressive policy aimed at aggravating the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and its surroundings and violations of the assumed obligations" was brought to the agenda of the OSCE Permanent Council session on March 23.

As Armenpress was informed from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, during the session the head of the Armenian mission, Ambassador Armen Papikyan, thoroughly addressed Azerbaijan's aggressive policy against Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia, the escalation of the situation in the Armenia-Azerbaijan border zone, and the shooting of an Armenian serviceman by the adversary on March 22.

The permanent representative of Armenia emphasized that since the cessation of hostilities in 2020, Azerbaijan has continued gross violations of trilateral and quadrilateral declarations adopted in various formats, and in practice there is not a provision of these declarations that Azerbaijan has not violated, from keeping Armenian prisoners, hostages, to this day in illegal detention, to the blockade of the Lachin Corridor and obstructing the opening of regional communications.

Armen Papikyan referred to the February 22, 2023 decision of the International Court of Justice, by which Azerbaijan was obliged to take all necessary measures to ensure the uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles and cargo in both directions through the Lachin Corridor.

The permanent representative stressed that the court's decisions are legally binding, but it has been more than 100 days that Azerbaijan continues the blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which is accompanied by actions aimed at creating a humanitarian disaster in Artsakh and demonstrates Azerbaijan's unconcealed policy of ethnic cleansing at the high level.

Armen Papikyan stressed that Azerbaijan continuously prevents the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno-Karabakh and neighboring regions, while at the same time resettling the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh under its control in order to change the demographic picture.

The head of the Armenian mission emphasized that the belligerent rhetoric of the Azerbaijani president is aimed at completely disrupting the efforts to establish stability in the South Caucasus and resorting to use of force against both the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh.

Highly appreciating the clear statements of a number of countries regarding the need for immediate reopening of the Lachin Corridor, the Ambassador emphasized the imperative of launching the international mechanisms for the prevention of genocides, as well as the dispatch of an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno Karabakh.