Azerbaijan must fulfill its promise: Power

The United States reaffirms its support for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy of Armenia, emphasizing that these are inviolable principles. This was stated by Samantha Power, Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development, during a press conference held at the U.S. Embassy in Armenia.

“We are again making it very clear, as we did at the UN, that we support the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy of Armenia. I cannot specify what the consequences of any violations might be. But we want to emphasize together that these are inviolable principles,” said the U.S. AID Director.

She noted that there needs to be an international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh to assess whether Azerbaijan is fulfilling its commitments.

“We call on Azerbaijan to maintain the ceasefire and take concrete steps to protect the rights of civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh. President Aliyev promised to guarantee the rights of ethnic Armenians, and Azerbaijan must fulfill that promise,” Power said.

The U.S. AID Director underlined the importance of the world being able to verify that Azerbaijan is keeping its promise. “All parties must allow for an international humanitarian assessment and humanitarian presence to see whether Azerbaijan is fulfilling its commitments, and these organizations should be able to report back to the international community,” said Power.

According to her, Azerbaijan must fully and permanently open the Lachin corridor for passenger transportation, commercial transportation, and humanitarian transportation. The promises regarding the protection of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh will be meaningless as long as civilians cannot freely come and go, and when medical and food supplies cannot reach the settlements. “Organizations such as the U.S. AID must have access to provide essential humanitarian assistance,” Power emphasized.