«Azerbaijan Constantly Talks About Some Corridor»: Simonyan's Speech at the CIS Participating States Assembly

The President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Alen Simonyan, stated at the plenary session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the CIS Participating States that Armenia is committed to establishing long-term and just peace in the South Caucasus region and throughout the CIS territory.

Simonyan noted that the politics of threats and coercion is unacceptable for Armenia. According to him, for an effective negotiation process, specific actions are necessary: the withdrawal of Azerbaijani troops from the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, the unconditional maintenance of the ceasefire regime, and the immediate release of all Armenian prisoners of war and other detained persons.

“Regarding the current situation, we have appealed to the CSTO with a request to provide Armenia with necessary assistance in accordance with Article 4 of the Collective Security Treaty, including military assistance. In response to our request, an extraordinary session of the Collective Security Council was convened, following which a mission was sent to Armenia for on-site monitoring and investigation of the situation. The mission has already completed its work and presented conclusions and recommendations. We attach special importance to the establishment of international mechanisms for monitoring and controlling the border situation to prevent new aggressions. As a result of the agreements reached on October 6 of this year in Prague, a technical group of the EU civilian monitoring mission has arrived in Armenia.

Based on relevant documents from the OSCE Ministerial Council and at the request of Armenia, a decision has been made to send OSCE observers to the Armenia-Azerbaijan border (an OSCE mission for assessing the needs of the Republic of Armenia),” said Simonyan.

According to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Armenia has a principled position on the delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan and the unblocking of transport communications.

“We have repeatedly stated that we seek to establish relations based on partnership in the region. We believe that the work on border demarcation and subsequent delimitation should be based on the fundamental documents of the CIS, according to which the former administrative borders of the Soviet republics have become state borders of already independent countries, including Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia is ready to open existing routes and build new communications in accordance with the national legislation of the countries through which they pass. Azerbaijan constantly talks about some corridor, which is not mentioned at all in the trilateral statement of November 9. The term ‘corridor’ is mentioned solely in relation to the Lachin corridor regarding ensuring the security of Nagorno-Karabakh and has no relation to the issue of unblocking transport links, while we consider all parallel interpretations of these agreements as manipulations.

Moreover, under the chairmanship of the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, a trilateral working group and the Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation have decided that the reconstructed and newly constructed transport infrastructure facilities should operate under the full sovereignty of the countries through which they pass. Unfortunately, the manipulation of the text of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020, has turned into Azerbaijan's policy, reflected in the fact that despite the clear affirmation of the existence of Nagorno-Karabakh in the statement signed by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the President of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan declares that Nagorno-Karabakh does not exist.

In the post-war period, Azerbaijan linked the release of prisoners with the provision of maps of mined fields, while the obligation stemming from the trilateral statement was to exchange all prisoners. Armenia has fulfilled its obligations to hand over prisoners of war based on the principle of ‘all for all’, and as a humanitarian gesture, provided Azerbaijan with all the maps of mined fields. And now, after the latest aggression, the Azerbaijani side, despite the existence of relevant agreements, obstructs the retrieval of the bodies of the fallen from inter-state zones in the sovereign territory of Armenia. The preservation of Armenian historical, cultural, and spiritual heritage in the territories passed under the control of Azerbaijan is of utmost importance.

The lessons of history indicate that conflicts do not have positive outcomes for the world. Regulating relations with neighboring states is a top priority for the Republic of Armenia. We have shown the will and a constructive approach to find mutually acceptable solutions to problematic issues. We expect Azerbaijan to take effective steps to strengthen peace and stability in the region through peaceful negotiations,” emphasized Simonyan.