Azerbaijan is preparing the ground to close the Lachin corridor linking Nagorno-Karabakh with southern Armenia, Armenian parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan said at a plenary session of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly in Moscow.

"Today we face the task of protecting the population of Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan began to claim that the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh no longer exists, and there is no concept of the indigenous Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The other day the Defense Ministry of Azerbaijan demanded from the Russian peacekeepers not to use the name of Nagorno Karabakh and Armenian toponyms," Simonyan reminded.

According to him, Armenian authorities see the failure of Azerbaijan to close Lachin corridor, which is of vital humanitarian importance for the sustenance of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

He also pointed out that the number of provocations of the Azerbaijani side in the region of the corridor in the north of Nagorno-Karabakh has considerably increased during the last period.

"To summarize, there is a growing threat of ethnic cleansing and genocide. Azerbaijan boycotts and denies the efforts of international partners and attacks are voiced towards Russian peacekeepers whose mandate has not yet been approved by Azerbaijan," he said.

Furthermore, he once again reminded that Azerbaijan has occupied Armenian territories, which means the presence of armed forces of third countries in the CSTO area of responsibility.

"I don't know how it can be explained or how our colleagues see the continuation of this situation, but almost every day Azerbaijan violates the ceasefire, as a result of which people die," he stressed.