The factions of the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) National Assembly have issued a statement in connection with the July 10 visit of the representatives of foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Azerbaijan to the occupied territories of Artsakh. The statement reads as follows:

"After the large-scale war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the Artsakh Republic, hostile actions against Armenian historical, cultural, and spiritual values continue in violation of international law and, in particular, international humanitarian law. And all this is not only not condemned by international organizations and individual countries, but the opposite happens. Baku spares no effort to make the representatives of the same organizations and countries a participant and complicit in its invasive and inhumane actions.

The Azerbaijani authorities’ organization of the visit of the representatives of foreign diplomatic missions accredited in Baku on July 10, 2021 to the occupied territories of the Artsakh Republic, including the staged filming in Shushi, should also be considered in this context.

We strongly condemn such behavior. By doing so, Azerbaijan is trying to form a circle of supporters of the implementation of the aggressive occupation plan against the Artsakh Republic. During the 44-day war, Azerbaijan, with the support of Turkey and international terrorist groups, occupied most of the Artsakh Republic, including the city of Shushi, the cultural and spiritual center of the Armenian people.

The international community’s non-condemnation of the Turkish President's visit to Shushi prompted the Azerbaijani authorities to take new provocative actions, which were followed by the visit of foreign diplomats accredited in Baku to Shushi. We consider such a distortion of historical realities and the distortion of the essence of the conflict by such methods as a step aimed at disrupting the peaceful settlement of the conflict, which grossly violates the basic principles of international law.

Assessing the negative attitude of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries towards this play, we call on to condemn such provocative actions and take steps to de-occupy the territories of the Artsakh Republic and enshrine the right of the people of Artsakh to live freely."