The Lachin Corridor remains blockaded since Dec. 12

The Artsakh foreign ministry urged Russia to deliver a “proper and strong response” to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s threats made on Sunday during a speech in Lachin.

Aliyev said on Sunday that apart from recognizing Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh Yerevan must also meet a number of other conditions set by Azerbaijan. That includes delimiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani border on Baku’s terms and opening a corridor to the Nakhichevan, he said.

“They must not forget that Armenian villages are visible from here,” he added during a visit to Lachin, which has been blockaded by Azerbaijan since December 12.

“We consider it absolutely unacceptable that the international community, and first and foremost, the Russian Federation, whose peacekeeping forces are stationed in Artsakh and under whose security guarantees tens of thousands of Artsakh citizens returned to their homes after the 2020 war, allow Azerbaijan to threaten the resumption of military operations against Artsakh without a proper and strong response,” the Artsakh foreign ministry said in its statement.

“The fact that the Azerbaijani president has once again resorted to open threats and outright blackmail leaves no doubt that Azerbaijan consistently denies the very possibility of resolving the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict through negotiations,” said the statement.

The Artsakh foreign ministry blamed the international community’s inaction, among them “international mediators involved in the settlement process,” for strengthening Baku’s threats and violence.

“Statements made by the Azerbaijani authorities on their so-called readiness to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians of Artsakh are a false narrative and a smoke screen behind which lies the true intention of Baku to carry out ethnic cleansing in Artsakh,” said the foreign ministry. “By demanding to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, the authorities of this country are in fact trying to get a ‘license’ to carry out their criminal plans with impunity.”

The Artsakh foreign ministry called on the international to stop turning a blind eye to Azerbaijan’s true motives, saying Baku’s diplomatic approaches of coercion, blackmail and threats to use force violate and contradict the United Nations Charter, the founding the documents of the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

“Ignoring the true intentions and violations of Azerbaijan’s international obligations, as well as attempts by international mediators to seek constructiveness in Azerbaijan’s openly genocidal agenda are self-deception and are tantamount to approving Baku’s criminal actions,” emphasized the Artsakh foreign ministry.

“We proceed from the premise that international mediators, represented by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries and the European Union, must pay more attention to the warmongering rhetoric and unlawful actions of Azerbaijan, and must move from words to action to prevent the realization of Azerbaijan’s criminal plans and thereby demonstrate in practice their commitment to the fundamental norms and principles of international law, as well as ensuring the human rights and security of the people of Artsakh and establishing a just, dignified and lasting peace in the region,” the Artsakh foreign ministry said.

The Artsakh National Assembly said that Aliyev’s threats on Sunday was yet “another proof that the people of Artsakh simply cannot live within Azerbaijan, due to the existential dangers arising from the xenophobic and anti-Armenian politics prevailing there.”

“The people of Artsakh have chosen the path of self-determination, sovereignty and statehood, the pillars of which are the President and the National Assembly. Therefore, we strongly condemn such attacks on the right to self-determination, sovereignty and security of the people of Artsakh, as well as peace in the region and the threats of the resumption of military operations,” the Artsakh legislature said.

Harutyunyan’s spokesperson, Lusine Avanesyan, said in a statement that the Artsakh president has expressed his willingness to begin a dialogue with Baku “in an international format, based on the norms and principles of international law, especially on the principles of equality and self-determination of people, non-use of force and threat of force, peaceful settlement of disputes and principles of territorial integrity.”