Azerbaijan Attempts to Seize Border Areas of Armenia Post-Artsakh, Says Ayvazyan

Today, the 131st online session of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers took place, where Armenia's Acting Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan also delivered a speech. This information was provided by the press service of Armenia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In his speech, the head of the foreign policy agency of Armenia addressed the 2020 war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh. He drew the attention of the member countries of the Council of Europe to the mass violations of human rights and international humanitarian law carried out by Azerbaijan during the war, the degrading treatment of Armenian prisoners of war and detained civilians, the protection of Artsakh’s historical and cultural monuments, and issues related to the unhindered access of international organizations to Artsakh.

“We assign a crucial role to the Council of Europe in addressing the devastating humanitarian consequences of the war in Artsakh, including the issues of displacement, the destruction of cultural and religious monuments, and the ongoing captivity of hundreds of prisoners of war and civilians. We believe the Committee of Ministers should multiply its efforts in this direction, including providing its full support to the European Court of Human Rights, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Commissioner for Human Rights, and other competent bodies. So far, the response of the Committee of Ministers to Azerbaijan's blatant violations of its statutory and conventional obligations has been inadequate,” he stated.

According to Ayvazyan, the absence of a strong response to the massive and gross violations of human rights in Nagorno-Karabakh encouraged Azerbaijan to pursue the same policy against the Republic of Armenia, attempting to seize border areas and deprive the local population of their livelihoods.

“If we do not renew our efforts to guarantee democratic security across Europe, our most important goal of greater unity in Europe will remain an illusion, especially for those living in conflict and confrontation zones,” the Foreign Minister said.