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The Foreign Ministry of the Artsakh Republic has responded to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s latest threats. Below is the full text of a statement issued by the ministry on Tuesday.

"On 28 May 2023, in flagrant violation of the norms and principles of international law, obligations assumed by the Trilateral Statement of November 2020, and ignoring the presence of the Russian peacekeeping forces, the President of Azerbaijan made a series of belligerent and provocative statements against the Republic of Artsakh and its democratic institutions, as well as the possibility of resumption of hostilities by Azerbaijan against Artsakh. The fact that the Azerbaijani president has once again resorted to open threats and outright blackmail leaves no doubt that Azerbaijan consistently denies the very possibility of resolving the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict through negotiations.

The prolonged blockade, the creation of unbearable living conditions, the denial of the right to life and security, systematic and massive violations of other fundamental rights and freedoms, repression and persecution are the tools, which Azerbaijan intends to use further against the people of Artsakh.

The blockade, which has been going on for more than five months now, the ongoing armed attacks and belligerent statements show that Azerbaijan is not only unwilling to give up its policy of threats and violence, but is increasingly strengthening it against the backdrop of the inaction of the international community, including the international mediators involved in the settlement process.
Statements made by the Azerbaijani authorities on alleged readiness to ensure the rights and security of the Armenians of Artsakh are a false narrative and a smoke screen behind which lies the true intention of Baku to carry out ethnic cleansing in Artsakh. By demanding to recognise Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, the authorities of this country are in fact trying to get a “license” to carry out their criminal plans with impunity.

International actors must stop turning a blind eye to the real motives and goals of Azerbaijan's agenda in relation to Artsakh, the diplomatic and foreign policy components of which are a continuation of the policy of blackmail, coercion and threat of force in violation of the UN Charter, the founding documents of the OSCE and the Council of Europe. Ignoring the true intentions and violations of the international obligations of Azerbaijan, as well as attempts by international mediators to seek constructiveness in Azerbaijan's openly genocidal agenda are self-deception and are tantamount to approving Baku's criminal actions.

We consider it absolutely unacceptable that the international community, and first of all, the Russian Federation, whose peacekeeping forces are stationed in Artsakh and under whose security guarantees tens of thousands of Artsakh citizens returned to their homes after the 2020 war, leave Azerbaijan's threats to resume military operations against Artsakh without a proper and strong response.

We proceed from the premise that international mediators, represented by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries and the European Union, must pay more attention to the warmongering rhetoric and unlawful actions of Azerbaijan, and must move from words to action to prevent the realisation of Azerbaijan's criminal plans and thereby demonstrate in practice their commitment to the fundamental norms and principles of international law, as well as ensuring the human rights and security of the people of Artsakh and establishing a just, dignified and lasting peace in the region."