G-20 Must Apply Clear Pressure on Azerbaijan: Mirzoyan's Speech

On January 12, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan delivered a speech at the virtual summit titled "Voice of the South" held under India's G-20 Presidency. This information was reported by the official website of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In his speech, Minister Mirzoyan stated:

“Dear colleagues,
While we discuss communication and the free movement of people, the whole world has been witnessing the gross violation of these principles for over a month: A group of agents of the Azerbaijani government has blocked the Lachin Corridor, the only lifeline connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the world, under the pretext of artificial environmental concerns. By undermining the global environmental agenda and violating the right to free movement, Azerbaijan holds hostage the 120,000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, including 30,000 children and several thousand individuals with disabilities. Due to the Azerbaijani illegal blockade, the population of Nagorno-Karabakh is currently facing a humanitarian disaster. There is a severe shortage of essential goods, food, and medicine. The risk of malnutrition, especially among children, is significant. Hundreds of families trapped on different sides of the blockade remain separated.

In this situation, we highly appreciate the calls from the international community and, in particular, the unequivocal calls from the majority of UN Security Council members during the emergency session on December 20, 2022, to end the blockade and to ensure access for international organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh.

Nonetheless, Azerbaijan's ongoing provocations and aggressive actions reveal that the lack of effective accountability mechanisms only encourages Azerbaijan to question the determination and willingness of the international community to take action. Currently, it is essential that our international partners, including G-20 members, apply clear pressure on Azerbaijan to end the inhumane blockade of the Nagorno-Karabakh people and return to the negotiation table.

We also consider it necessary to dispatch an international fact-finding mission to assess the humanitarian situation on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Lachin Corridor, as well as to ensure unhindered humanitarian access to Nagorno-Karabakh for relevant UN bodies.

Thank you.