Statement on the "Violations by Azerbaijan of the provisions of the 9 November 2020 Trilateral Statement" as delivered by Ambassador Armen Papikyan at the 1387th meeting of the Permanent Council

02 September, 2022

Mr Chairman,

Dear colleagues,

As we are approaching the second anniversary of the war of aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan and its allies against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and its people, we would like to reflect on the situation on the ground regarding the implementation of the 9 November 2020 Trilateral Statement on cessation of hostilities signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia.

Prior to the war of aggression, the Armenian delegation on numerous occasions warned the OSCE and its participating States that the deterioration of the situation, and the steady escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict if not condemned properly and robustly would contribute to unraveling of the European security system.

We continue to maintain this approach and, in light of yesterday’s statement of the Azerbaijani delegation, regarding the situation around Berdzor, Aghavno and Sus, we reiterate that the continued impunity for violating the OSCE commitments and principles will further disrupt the security and stability in the OSCE area.

Large scale use of force, factual disruption of arms control and confidence building regime, massive use of foreign terrorist fighters and mercenaries in armed conflicts, attempts to internalize international conflicts through impeding the work of the OSCE agreed formats of conflict resolution and continued erosion of the consensus principle through application of non-transparent instruments, particularly in conflict environment - these are the marked features of the current crisis.

Mr. Chairman,

The 9 November Trilateral Statement ended the active military actions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone. At the same time, it contains a number of clear steps and commitments undertaken by the parties. Armenia proceeded from the understanding that these commitments should and would be implemented in a good faith and that the Azerbaijani side will follow through and implement the provisions of the statement.

This is not the case, unfortunately, since it is clear that this understanding is not shared by the Azerbaijani side. Furthermore, the use and threat of force is becoming the prominent feature and modus operandi of the Azerbaijani aggressive policy in the region, which was emboldened by absence of proper condemnation and/or equivalent action on part of the OSCE and its participating States.

The Azerbaijani aggressive policy directly challenges the credibility of statements coming from various participating States about the inadmissibility of the use of force in resolving conflicts and tensions.

Mr Chairman,

For almost two years this delegation has been regularly informing the Permanent Council and the delegations of the participating States of numerous violations and non-implementation of the provisions of the 9 November statement. Moreover, misinterpretation and distortion of the provisions of the said statement by Azerbaijan is a matter of particular concern, since in our view, such actions are aimed at disrupting the efforts to establish stability and security in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone and the South Caucasus region as a whole.

The most serious and yet unrectified violation by Azerbaijan with significant security implications for the whole region and beyond is related to the 1st paragraph of the statement, which stipulated that the sides will stop and remain at the positions they occupied on 9 November 2020.

However, since then, Azerbaijan invaded both the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh and the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.

Just a month after signing the Statement, the Azerbaijani armed forces launched an attack on the villages of Hin Tagher and Khtsaberd in the region of Hadrut of Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in the occupation of those settlements and the killing of 7 and capture of 64 Armenian soldiers most of whom remain in illegal detention in Azerbaijan in yet another flagrant violation of the Trilateral Statement, let alone the international humanitarian law and, most notably, the Geneva Convention.

Since 12 May 2021, the armed forces of Azerbaijan have infiltrated and continue to stay in the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. As a result, more than 45 square kilometers of the sovereign Armenian territory continues to remain under the occupation of Azerbaijani armed forces.

The ceasefire violations were accompanied by targeting the civilians and civilian infrastructure in Artsakh. As a result, a civilian was fatally wounded by the shot of a sniper on October 9, 2021 while carrying out agricultural works near the town of Martakert of Artsakh.

In another attack by the Azerbaijani armed forces on November 9, 2021, a civilian was killed and three others were wounded while carrying out construction works near the Stepanakert-Shushi road in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeepers.

On December 3, 2021 Seyran Sargsyan, a resident of Chartar, was captured and deliberately murdered by the Azerbaijani armed units, while carrying out agricultural work near the Chartar community in Martuni region of Artsakh.

Another major ceasefire violation was recorded on March 24 of this year with the illegal incursion of Azerbaijani armed forces in the direction of Parukh village of Nagorno-Karabakh forcing the peaceful residents of the village to flee their homes and become internally displaced up until now.

Azerbaijan once again resorted to the use of force on August 3, 2022 in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, which resulted in casualties and wounded ones.

On 3 August 2022, the armed forces of Azerbaijan, in flagrant violation of the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020, signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, committed another act of aggression on the Line of Contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and vicinity of Lachin corridor, within the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. During this unprovoked attack on the positions of the Artsakh Defence Army, Azerbaijan used various types of large-caliber weapons, including mortars and attack UAVs, as a result of which two servicemen of the Artsakh Defence Army, Gurgen Gabrielyan and Artur Khachatryan, were killed and 19 others were wounded.

This aggression was preceded by another attack on the positions of the Artsakh Defence Army on 2 August, during which the Azerbaijani armed forces attempted an incursion into several sections of the Line of Contact, as a result of which one Armenian serviceman was wounded.

So far, no single person was held accountable for the above mentioned killing. Moreover, Azerbaijani troops have not been withdrawn from the territories of Artsakh and Armenia that they have occupied in clear violation of Article 1 of the trilateral statement.

As mentioned earlier, these attacks and acts of aggression are accompanied by a deliberate misinterpretation and distortion of the provisions of the Trilateral Statement by the Azerbaijani side as a basis for their unlawful use of force.

Within this logic of arbitrary interpretation of the Trilateral Statement, the Azerbaijani side, in yet another violation of the Trilateral Statement, submitted a letter to the Russian peacekeeping contingent regarding the transfer of control over the Lachin Corridor without a plan for reconstruction of a new route which is prescribed in the provision 6 of the Statement.

Dear Colleagues,

Along with armed attacks and incursions, Azerbaijan also fails to implement the provisions of the statement related to humanitarian issues, in particular, paragraph 8, which requires that “The Parties shall exchange prisoners of war, hostages and other detained persons, and dead bodies”. For almost two years Azerbaijan, under different pretexts, not only continues to illegally detain Armenian prisoners of war and civilian captives/hostages, prosecute them in sham trials, and use them as political hostages and bargaining chips but it also continues to conceal the true number of the Armenian POWs and captured civilians and places of their detention.

In this regard, the Armenian delegation repeatedly raised concerns over the fate of the Armenian POWs and civilian captives, which could fall victims of enforced disappearance, trafficking of persons and organs. It should be also stressed that despite agreements reached at the highest level, Azerbaijan as of today fails to honour its own commitment and release the Armenian prisoners.

The fate of the Armenian cultural heritage remaining on the territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan is yet another cause for grave concern, taking into account the track record of Azerbaijani government in appropriating or destroying the Armenian cultural and religious heritage and sites, and also in view of pronounced intention to “verify” the identity of religious sites, and of credible reports about plans of the Azerbaijani government to change their architectural integrity as a way to erase the traces of the indigenous Armenian culture and population.

This is by far a non-exhaustive list of violations by Azerbaijan of the provisions of the 9 November trilateral statement.

Mr. Chairman,

As we have stated previously, there are three key realities that are clearly reflected and defined in the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020. These are the existence of Nagorno-Karabakh, the existence of the Line of Contact in Nagorno-Karabakh and the existence of the Lachin Corridor - guaranteeing the connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.

Azerbaijan is bound by its signature under the Trilateral Statement and must respect these realities, without twisting or distorting the provisions of the Statement, as well as comply with the agreements reached at the highest political level.

At the same time, the trilateral statement in no way could be interpreted as the agreement on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Azerbaijan’s attempts to destabilize the situation clearly demonstrate the need for a real and unbiased assessment of the situation by the international community, including the Chairman-in-Office and the Minsk Group Co-Chairs, which has proven to be the most balanced and sustainable format.

The Republic of Armenia reaffirms its commitment to the agenda of establishing peace and stability in the region, and calls on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to work hard towards resuming the work of this negotiation format. And respective Chairmanships to provide all their support to these efforts. In this context, we would like to welcome the appointment by the United States of America of Ambassador Philip Reeker as the new Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.

We also reiterate our long-standing position that the Co-Chairmanship has an international mandate to support the lasting and comprehensive settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and no one has canceled that mandate.

Mr. Chairman, please attach this statement to the journal of today’s meeting.

I thank you.

MFA RA
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