On July 16, in Vienna, upon initiative of the Armenian Delegation to the OSCE, a current issue entitled “Military offensive of Azerbaijan on north-eastern part of the state border of Armenia” was included in the agenda and discussed at the OSCE Permanent Council meeting.
In his statement Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE, Ambassador Armen Papikyan briefed the participating States on the chronologie of the armed offensive by Azerbaijan on the north-eastern part of Armenia’s state border, as well as preceding political and military build up, all of which clearly attest that the armed offensive launched on July 12 has been a pre-planned, premeditated operation.
“Azerbaijani leader, who is notorious for making constant territorial claims towards Armenia, in particular capital city of Yerevan, as well as Armenia’s southern region of Zangezur, who constantly laments that “modern Armenia is built on Azerbaijani lands”, and so on and so forth, in his public statements and speeches in recent months once again reverted to war-mongering and bellicose rhetoric, assuring country’s population of the ability of Azerbaijan to solve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict militarily.
This Delegation has constantly drawn the attention of the Permanent Council towards anti-Armenian hate propaganda promoted by the Azerbaijani leadership, which we consider a tool used in order to consolidate the society against the external enemy and divert its attention from the internal problems, such as dictatorial nature of authority, endemic corruption, abysmal human rights record of violations of almost all the fundamental rights and freedoms.”
Ambassador Armen Papikyan further noted, that the level of anti-Armenian hatred has reached such a dangerous level, that even a slight manipulation by the Azerbaijani politico-military leadership can spill it over into a military flare up or even large-scale aggression either on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, or on the Line of Contact.
Armenia’s Permanent Representative informed the participating States of the shellings of civilian settlements of the Tavush province - city of Berd, and villages of Aygepar, Movses, Chinari, Verin Karmiraghbyur - with the use of mortars, Grad multiple rocket launcher systems and combat UAVs.
Ambassador specifically pointed to the fact of shelling of the kindergarten in the Aygepar village. “Deliberate targeting of the civilian population and infrastructure is not a new tactic employed by the Azerbaijani side. We have seen it for years, we have seen it during the April war of 2016, when Azerbaijani army’s actions amounted to gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws. It is yet another manifestation of hatred, xenophobia and intolerance against the Armenian people. A policy that is officially promoted at the highest level in Azerbaijan. These actions, this stance of Azerbaijani authorities should be condemned in no uncertain terms and the Azerbaijani political and military leadership shall bear full responsibility for it.”
Ambassador Papikyan further noted that it was not for the first time that Azerbaijan positioned its artillery units either within or in close proximity to civilian settlements, thus making those settlements vulnerable. “This deplorable tactics is not something new and has been used by the Azerbaijani side during the April war of 2016, and is yet another evidence of total disregard of Azerbaijani political and military leadership towards safety and security of their own population, let alone the peoples of Armenia and Artsakh.”
Armenia’s Ambassador also expressed appreciation to the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for his balanced statement, as well as to Armenia’s partners and friends for their swift reactions.
In the context of international reactions, Ambassador Papikyan specifically referred to the statements made by Turkey saying that we consider them as a direct encouragement for the actions of Azerbaijan, which in the current volatile situation is absolutely irresponsible and unacceptable behaviour.
In conclusion, Ambassador Papikyan noted that this escalation on Armenia’s border once again comes to prove that in order to create an environment conducive to peace and prepare populations for peace we should first and foremost considerably reduce risks of resumption of military hostilities by Azerbaijan, as well as enhance the monitoring capacities of the office of Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, which is the only international presence on the ground. Ambassador Papikyan underscored that initiatives aimed at building trust between the peoples, creating an environment conducive to peace and preparing populations to peace are the only way to ensure stability in the region.
