Azerbaijani leadership demands Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians leave their homes - Mirzoyan
YEREVAN, March 9. /ARKA/. Instead of engaging with local authorities in talks on the rights and security guarantees of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, the highest leadership of Azerbaijan calls on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to leave their homes aiming to deprive them of their homeland and realize its policy of ethnic cleansing, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said speaking at 159th Session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the Ministerial level.
He emphasized that Armenia rejects the use of force or the threat of force and is trying to negotiate with the neighbors in good faith and is committed to finding fair solutions to all outstanding issues through diplomatic means, but instead of reciprocating Armenia’s genuine efforts, Azerbaijan continues its hate speech and xenophobic rhetoric as well as aggressive and maximalist actions.
Mirzoyan recalled it has been more than 2 months since the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world was illegally closed by a group of so-called eco-activists, obviously orchestrated by the Azerbaijani government.
Furthermore, Azerbaijan regularly disrupts the electricity and gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh. As a result, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Mirzoyanb also recalled that on 22 February this year, the International Court of Justice issued a legally binding provisional measure against Azerbaijan. In the mentioned order, the Court has found that there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to Armenians’ rights and ordered Azerbaijan to take all necessary measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin corridor in both directions.
‘Unfortunately, our neighboring Azerbaijan continuously manipulates the Armenia-Azerbaijan relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh issue on various international platforms, especially those organizations where Armenia is not represented, such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Non-Aligned Movement, trying to give it a religious tone and using the delicate concept of Muslim solidarity. We expect that such attempts will be rejected and will not drag our friendly Arab countries into the field of religious discord. We should prevent any further attempt of giving a religious tone to the pure political and humanitarian disputes,’ Mirzoyan said. -0-
