Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan categorically opposes Azerbaijan’s claims that the OSCE Minsk Group has terminated its activities. He announced this during Thursday’s joint news conference with visiting OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Foreign Minister of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani.
Mirzoyan stated that Osmani's visit takes place in difficult times for Armenia, when the country is facing threats and challenges that are directly related to the functions of the OSCE. Therefore, this visit is a good opportunity to discuss the problems in the region, the role and participation of the OSCE, and the matters of further cooperation with this organization.
The FM noted that Armenia always provides its partners in this organization with reliable information about the situation in the region and on the border, and today the latest developments were discussed, he presented information on the occupation of the sovereign territories of Armenia by Azerbaijan since May 2021, as well as the consequences of the Azerbaijani provocation on Tuesday—on the eve of the visit by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office.
The Armenian FM emphasized that Azerbaijan's military aggression is a gross violation of a number of principles of the OSCE and the Helsinki Final Act. In this context, he noted the importance of the OSCE mission after the September 2022 aggression of Azerbaijan. At the same time, Mirzoyan stressed that the respective report should be accessible to the entire international community as a source of objective information about Azerbaijan's aggression.
The priorities of North Macedonia during its OSCE chairmanship were discussed, too.
In the context of recent world events, the OSCE is facing serious challenges, Armenian FM noted.
He emphasized that the ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) by Azerbaijan continues for the fourth month, and Baku ignores the legally binding decision of the International Criminal Court. With the blockade of the corridor, terrorism, and several other actions aimed at forcing Armenians to leave their homes, Azerbaijan is trying to implement its policy of Armenian ethnic cleansing, Mirzoyan stated. In this regard, he stressed the importance of the unhindered arrival of the representatives of international organizations to Artsakh, and the importance of sending an international fact-finding mission regarding Artsakh and the Lachin corridor. This can be of great importance in refuting Azerbaijan's false theses, preventing aggression, stopping people's suffering, and establishing peace in the region, the Armenian FM noted.
Also, Mirzoyan drew the attention of his interlocutor to other violations by Azerbaijan of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020. However, he added, Armenia is faithful to its respective commitments and conscientiously continues the negotiations, including on a peace treaty with Azerbaijan. The Armenian FM emphasized again that in order to achieve peace, international guarantees of the rights of the people of Artsakh are needed, and the OSCE should increase its role in preventing the use of force.
Answering the question that the president of Azerbaijan has "disbanded" the OSCE Minsk Group, Mirzoyan noted that no one can single-handedly cancel a decision adopted by the OSCE member countries on the establishment of the Minsk Group.
"The format of the Minsk Group exists. It is another matter that the activities of the co-chairmanship have been frozen due to objective and subjective reasons," Mirzoyan noted.
Also, the Armenian FM expressed confidence that the format of the Minsk Group and the Minsk Conference has things to do in the issues of the rights and security of the people of Artsakh, as well as other organizations; for example, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office or the fact-finding mission.
"The rumors are slightly exaggerated," Mirzoyan summed up.
