Artsakh MFA has issued a statement.
The statement runs as follows:
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres’ appeal for an immediate global cease-fire in all corners of the world to allow humanity to unite against a common enemy, the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, has been an important, necessary and timely initiative. The faithful implementation of this call will be a significant contribution to the collective efforts of the international community to effectively counter this new threat to the whole humankind.
We believe that during this critical period, any attempts to take advantage of the situation caused by the pandemic to achieve narrow political goals, pose a threat to the entire international community and deserve the strongest condemnation. And, on the contrary, unity and solidarity of all mankind in the face of a common and merciless enemy will allow to not only win this battle, but also strengthen the spirit of co-operation, that can make this world safer and more prosperous.
The Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh Republic) immediately responded to the initiative of the Secretary-General and on 24 March confirmed its commitment to strictly observe the cease-fire in the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict zone.
We share the view of the UN Secretary-General that the life of every person should be at the centre of the collective efforts of the international community in combatting the novel Coronavirus pandemic. Only guided by the principle of “no one is left behind” the humanity will be able to withstand this test with dignity. For the Republic of Artsakh, which has been in conflict with Azerbaijan for three decades, the fight against the novel Coronavirus pandemic is becoming particularly acute given the fact that, due to the conflict, the people of Artsakh are deprived of international assistance.
In this regard, we hope that specialized international organizations, in particular the World Health Organization, will provide assistance to Artsakh in the fight against coronavirus, which will contribute to the overall efforts to overcome this global challenge.
