A delegation from the Republic of Armenia (RA) attended a Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO PA) event in Moscow, and presented the situation around the Lachin corridor
Deputy speaker of the RA National Assembly (NA), chairman of the CSTO PA Political Affairs and International Cooperation Committee, head of the aforesaid Armenian delegation Hakob Arshakyan, chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Defense and Security Andranik Kocharyan, and chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Eduard Aghajanyan attended—in Moscow in the Russian State Duma—the second meeting of the chairs of the committees (commissions) of the parliaments of the CSTO member countries.
Hakob Arshakyan presented his comments on the official wording of the relations of the CSTO PA with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic states.
"That wording is not acceptable for the Armenian side at the current stage, as Armenophobic steps are taken by the working bodies of these organizations, clear assessments are made in favor of Azerbaijan, including the armed attack against Armenia," said the RA NA deputy speaker.
"Azerbaijan, citing false environmental reasons, closed the Lachin corridor, which is the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. As a result of these actions, the 120,000-strong population of Nagorno-Karabakh, of which 30,000 are children, has found itself in a humanitarian crisis. 1,100 citizens, 270 of whom are minors, do not have the opportunity to return home due to the blocked road," Andranik Kocharyan, a member of the RA NA delegation to the CSTO PA, stated this during the consultation.
The NA delegate presented in detail the consequences of the created humanitarian crisis, and stated that by creating unbearable living conditions for the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is trying to force the Nagorno-Karabakh residents to leave their homes and native land.
Kocharyan emphasized that the Azerbaijani authorities intend to carry out another ethnic cleansing of Armenians, and the fact of the blockade of the Lachin corridor should be considered part of a large-scale and systematic policy implemented by Azerbaijan.
The Armenian MP considered the immediate intervention of the international community necessary regarding the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh that is intensifying day by day.
Regarding Armenia's respective expectations from the CSTO, Andranik Kocharyan first of all emphasized the need for a clear political assessment of the fact of Azerbaijan's aggression.
