Armenia Undermines Peace Process - Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry

Baku / 07.26.19 / Turan: The statement of a high-ranking representative of Armenia on the construction of a "third" road to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is another indication of the true intention of Armenia to consolidate the status quo based on the consequences of military aggression, undermine a peaceful resolution of the conflict and annex the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

This is stated in the statement of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan in connection with the plans of Armenia to build a new road from Armenia to the south of Karabakh.

The statement notes that the illegal activities of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, including the implementation of infrastructural changes, show that Yerevan"s approval of a commitment to a peaceful settlement of the conflict is nothing but "hypocrisy and misleading the international community."

As highlighted in the document, examples of using the Vardenis-Agdere road, called the "northern direction", as well as the "central" road Gorus-Lachin show that the new highway, which is planned to be built through the occupied Gubadly and Jabrail districts, will also serve more aggressive plundering of natural and other resources of the occupied territories.

In addition to infrastructural changes, Armenia carries out other illegal activities in the occupied territories - destroying cultural heritage, changing the demographic composition of the population, plundering the subsoil, etc.

Reports prepared on the basis of fact-finding and field assessment missions conducted by the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan show that illegal activities pose a serious threat to the peace process. The report "Illegal activity by Armenia in the territories of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia: satellite images" prepared in 2018 clearly shows the scale of illegal actions of Armenia.

International humanitarian law, in particular the 1949 Geneva Convention and the Additional Protocols prohibit any illegal activity in the occupied territories, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry called on the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office to pay special attention to illegal activities carried out in the occupied territories and causing serious damage to the negotiation process.

In the favorable conditions for the settlement of the conflict, the destructive continuation of illegal activities under the cover of the cease-fire regime is another provocative attempt by Armenia to undermine the negotiation process.

Therefore, the responsibility for possible consequences lies with the military-political leadership of Armenia.

Azerbaijan demanded that Armenia cease actions aimed at violating peace, security and stability in the region, and withdraw troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"Azerbaijan reserves the right to adequately respond to such provocations of the aggressor state," the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in conclusion.

Earlier, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan, in an interview with the Armenian editors of Radio Liberty, stated that the Armenian government plans to build a 150-kilometer road from Kapan in Armenia to Hadrut (Khojavend in the modern administrative division of Azerbaijan) in the occupied Karabakh in 2020. -06D-