Aliyev's Militaristic Rhetoric Aims to Disrupt Stability Efforts and Resort to Widespread Use of Force: Papikyan

On March 23, as initiated by the Armenian Mission to the OSCE, the agenda of the OSCE Permanent Council included the current issue of Azerbaijan's ongoing aggressive policies aimed at exacerbating the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the violations of commitments undertaken by Baku, as reported by the press service of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The head of the Armenian Mission, Ambassador Armen Papikyan, thoroughly addressed Azerbaijan's aggressive policies against Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia during the meeting, discussing the escalation of the situation at the Armenia-Azerbaijan border and the fatal wounding of an Armenian serviceman from enemy fire on March 22.

Ambassador Papikyan emphasized that since the cessation of hostilities in 2020, Azerbaijan has continued gross violations of the trilateral and quadrilateral statements accepted in various formats, effectively ignoring every clause of these statements. These violations range from the illegal detention of Armenian captives and hostages to obstructing the opening of the Lachin Corridor and regional communications.

He referred to the International Court of Justice's decision on February 22, 2023, which mandated Azerbaijan to take all necessary measures to ensure the unhindered movement of individuals, vehicles, and goods in both directions through the Lachin Corridor.

The Permanent Representative stressed that the court's decisions are legally binding; however, it has been over 100 days that Azerbaijan continues to blockade the Lachin Corridor, leading to actions aimed at creating a humanitarian disaster in Artsakh and underscoring Azerbaijan's blatant policy toward conducting high-level ethnic cleansing.

Papikyan highlighted that Azerbaijan persistently obstructs the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas while simultaneously resettling its territories under control in Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim of changing the demographic landscape.

The head of the Armenian Mission underscored that the militaristic rhetoric of the President of Azerbaijan is aimed at completely undermining efforts to establish stability in the South Caucasus and resorting to widespread use of force against both the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Appreciating the clear statements from several countries regarding the immediate reopening of the Lachin Corridor, the ambassador emphasized the imperative to activate international mechanisms for the prevention of genocides, as well as to dispatch an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh.