Azerbaijan Artificially Delays Peace Settlement Process of the Conflict, Says Artsakh Foreign Ministry

The information and public relations department of the Artsakh Republic's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artaq Nersisyan, has responded to statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

“On July 6, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave an interview to local television channels, using a tone and vocabulary regarding the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict that fall outside the realm of basic diplomatic ethics. The Azerbaijani President attempts to shift the blame for the lack of results in the negotiation process onto the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group by making sharp accusations against them for inaction. By obstructing the restoration of a full-fledged trilateral format for negotiations, constantly questioning the principle of peaceful settlement of disputes, and threatening the use of force, Azerbaijan deliberately creates additional obstacles to the peaceful resolution process of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. The aforementioned interview is another vivid proof of this.”

“In this context, it is characteristic of Azerbaijan's attitude towards the restoration of the full-fledged trilateral format of negotiations. Throughout various phases of resolving the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, negotiations have been conducted in different formats. However, the most effective have been negotiations with direct participation of Artsakh, both bilaterally (Artsakh-Azerbaijan) and trilaterally (Artsakh-Azerbaijan-Armenia). It was only in the trilateral format with the full participation of Artsakh that it was possible to achieve the most significant result in the process of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict — the signing of a permanent ceasefire agreement in May 1994. That is why, by attempting to delay the restoration of trilateral negotiations, Azerbaijan is artificially prolonging the peaceful resolution process of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.”

“The historical and legal arguments presented in the interview do not withstand any criticism. However, while the Azerbaijani President’s ignorance of the region's history may merely create a harmless background, his misconceptions in the field of international law could pose a serious threat to peace and security in the South Caucasus.”

“In the context of resolving the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan’s invocation of Article 51 of the UN Charter is completely unfounded and an unsuccessful attempt to cloak its aggressive, militaristic policy. Firstly, Azerbaijan was not under aggression to invoke Article 51 of the UN Charter. On the contrary, it is Azerbaijan that has transformed a political issue into an armed conflict through its actions, attempting to suppress the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination and unleashing a large-scale war against the Republic of Artsakh after gaining independence. Secondly, in May 1994, Artsakh, Azerbaijan, and Armenia signed a trilateral agreement on the ceasefire, thereby ending the military phase of the conflict and undertaking the obligation to resolve it peacefully, in accordance with the UN Charter. In this regard, we find it necessary to remind the Azerbaijani side that the resolution of international disputes exclusively through peaceful means is one of the fundamental principles of international law, which is enshrined in the UN Charter.”

“Baku's manipulation that Article 51 of the UN Charter grants it the right to use force in the context of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict has been rejected by the international community since April 2016 when Azerbaijan launched a large-scale attack against Artsakh. The co-chair countries of the OSCE Minsk Group — the United States, Russia, France, as well as the UN Secretary-General, the current president of the OSCE, and the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe unanimously stated that the agreements on the ceasefire of 1994 and the strengthening of it in 1995 must be strictly adhered to.”

“Against the backdrop of the international community's unified position on the necessity for an exclusively peaceful resolution of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan's threats to unleash a new war can only be interpreted as an attempt to step outside the boundaries of international community and international law. Instead of senselessly and unfruitfully blaming others for its own mistakes and miscalculations, Azerbaijan should unambiguously fulfill its obligations towards the peaceful resolution of the conflict and responsibly conduct negotiations in a full-fledged format.”