We are very close to a humanitarian crisis. The Prime Minister to foreign diplomats

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met today with the heads of foreign diplomatic missions of foreign states and international organizations accredited in the Republic of Armenia.

The Prime Minister of Armenia provided details on the war unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkey's involvement in it.

In his speech, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated: “The reason for our meeting today is obviously the war taking place in Artsakh, and I consider it very important to make a few statements at this stage:

The first one is that it is Azerbaijan that has launched an attack in the direction of Nagorno-Karabakh, contrary to the principle that the use of force or the threat of force is unacceptable in the context of resolving the issue of Karabakh, which is, in fact, one of the internationally accepted principles laid out as the basis for resolution.

The next point is that it is unequivocal that this war would not have started if Turkey had not shown a willingness to be fully involved and had not eventually participated fully in it. I would like to draw all our attention to the fact that the military operations began as a continuation of Turkish-Azerbaijani joint military exercises. Turkey's involvement and encouragement of the war, I believe, is also public. Moreover, this is confirmed not only by the evidence we have provided to our partners but also by the very public statements. And until today, Turkey continues to be involved in military operations.

The third point is that Turkey has recruited mercenaries and representatives of terrorist groups in Syria and transported them by its own air transport to the conflict zone. Why has Turkey come to the South Caucasus after 100 years? In our assessment, to continue the policy of genocide against the Armenian people. But once again, I want to emphasize that the purpose of this policy is not emotional or, as they say, in the context of historical revenge, but very practical. It is unequivocal for me that this is part of Turkey's expansionist policy, as the Armenians of the South Caucasus are the last obstacle on Turkey's path to the east, to the north, and to the southeast. And what is happening should be viewed in the context of Turkey's policies in the Mediterranean, Syria, Iraq, its relations with Greece, and its relations with Cyprus. And this is undoubtedly a policy of restoring the Turkish Empire.

The nature of military operations has once again demonstrated that the Armenian people, Armenians, and Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh are under existential threat. And if we align the policy of bombing Nagorno-Karabakh settlements with the policy of hatred that has developed in Azerbaijan over the past 15 years, it is evident that the official political goal of Azerbaijan is to eliminate Armenians at least in Nagorno-Karabakh. And I believe that the most important symbol of this is the case of Ramil Safarov, the details of which I hope you know.

Essentially, we are very close to a humanitarian crisis situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone, if we do not say that we are already facing a humanitarian crisis. And our assessment is that the only effective measure to prevent this humanitarian crisis may be the first: the official registration of the facts outlined above by the international community and, ultimately, the recognition of the right to self-determination of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the recognition of independence.

I would also like to address the claims of the Azerbaijani side that the Armenian side is targeting Azerbaijani civilian infrastructure and so on. The Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh has made the decision to take action in any direction only after it has become clear that there was no way to stop the bombardments of Stepanakert and other settlements by any other means. You are all aware that following the public call of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, a statement on ceasefire was adopted with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, and the ceasefire has not been maintained by Azerbaijan.

The ceasefire was supposed to enter into force on October 10 at 12:00 PM. Azerbaijan has conducted intense military operations until de jure the ceasefire was supposed to come into effect, which does not fall under any logic of violation of the ceasefire statement. But at 12:00 PM, the ceasefire was supposed to come into effect, and at 12:05 PM, Azerbaijan launched an attack on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and attempted to capture the city of Hadrut. Currently, operations are taking place near Hadrut, and the forces of the Defense Army of Nagorno-Karabakh are trying to expel the sabotage groups that are attempting to capture Hadrut. The situation is particularly tense in the southern part at the moment, and essentially, we do not have a ceasefire.

Armenia has clearly recorded the declaration regarding the maintenance of the ceasefire regime; according to the declaration, we have signed under our intentions and are committed to those intentions. That is to say, ceasefire and humanitarian operations, the launch of the negotiation process within the unchanged format of the OSCE Minsk Group.”

During the meeting, a video was shown to the heads of foreign states and international organizations' diplomatic missions, regarding the military actions carried out and being carried out by Azerbaijan against the peaceful settlements and civilian infrastructure of Nagorno-Karabakh. After the presentation of the video, the Prime Minister drew attention to the fact that not only military infrastructure but also no soldiers are visible in the frames, which indicates that this is a clearly conscious strike against peaceful settlements and civilian infrastructure.

“My assessment is unequivocal: in this war, the Armenian people are trying to resist the genocide unleashed against them,” noted Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister expressed gratitude to Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Emmanuel Macron as the leaders of the co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group, who are making sincere efforts to stop the violence, as well as the US administration and President Donald Trump.

“Our expectation is that the co-chairing countries will continue to make efforts, and we are ready to be constructive in this process. But we believe that the restoration of the negotiation process should take place in the logic as accepted in the Moscow statement,” stated Nikol Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister also expressed gratitude to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the European Council Charles Michel, the Chancellors of Austria, and the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, with whom he held phone conversations and exchanged views on the situation.

Prime Minister Pashinyan highly appreciated the position of the Prime Ministers of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus who emphasized the importance of coming to Yerevan and participating in the meeting held within the framework of the EAEU intergovernmental council on October 9.

N. Pashinyan extended his words of gratitude to all partners who have shown practical interest in establishing peace and stability in the region during this time.