Armenia

First of all. let me congratulate Mr. Dennis Francis on assuming the presidency of the General Assembly at its seventy-eighth session. I will not be the first and definitely not the last speaker in this body who will identify global threats to democracies, challenges to security and violations of the principles and purposes of the Charter of the United Nations, including the non-use of force and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, as a main source of instability and tension in the world. The devastating developments of the past years, which have disrupted the security architecture throughout the world, especially in Europe, have significantly damaged multilateralism. If a few years ago we were contemplating the decline of multilateralism, today we are seeing an erosion of that very tenet and its foundations, including international law. human rights and cooperative security. That is not just a theoretical inference but a reality with which the Armenian people in the South Caucasus have been coping for the last three years. The repeated aggression by Azerbaijan against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and the military attacks against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh significantly disrupt peace and stability in our region and massively violate human rights and humanitarian law. representing an existential threat for Armenians. My Government, which has a sincere belief in and aspiration to the establishment of peace and stability in our region, has made significant and duly recorded efforts to that end. Alas, we do not have a partner for peace, but a country that openly declares that might is right and constantly uses force to disrupt the peace process. Exactly one year ago. from this very rostrum, the Prime Minister of Armenia presented the fact of the aggression against and the occupation of the Republic of Armenia’s sovereign territories by neighbouring Azerbaijan (see A/77/PV.9). Since then, the situation has deteriorated even further, and today I must present yet another very recent act involving a large-scale offensive, this time against the indigenous people of Nagorno-Karabakh, in blatant violation of international law and the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020. It happened this week, and the timing was not accidental. That shows Azerbaijan’s open disregard for and defiance of the international community that has gathered here in New York. The message is clear: Member States can talk about peace, and we can go to war. and they will not be able to change anything. Indeed. 120.000 people, whose sole aspiration is to live and create in peace and dignity in their ancestral homeland and who have already been suffering under the nine-month blockade and siege by Azerbaijan, were subjected to a military attack by tens of thousands of troops. In the course of that inhumane attack, the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Stepanakert and other towns and settlements was subjected to intense and indiscriminate shelling with heavy weaponry, including rockets, artillery, combat unmanned aerial vehicles and aviation, as well as prohibited cluster munitions. That atrocious large-scale offensive, which claimed hundreds of lives, including those of women and children, was cynically defined as a local counterterrorist operation. According to recent information, there are confirmed reports of more than 200 people killed and 400 wounded, including, among the civilian population, women and children, a figure that is also accepted by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The fate of hundreds of others is uncertain. Even as I speak today. 30 per cent of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh is displaced. The entire population remains without any means of subsistence, as only limited humanitarian assistance has been able to enter into Nagorno-Karabakh. There is no food, no medicine, no shelter, no place to go; they are separated from their families, terrorized and afraid for their lives. The policy and actions of Azerbaijan for the past nine months clearly demonstrate the preplanned and well-orchestrated nature of that mass atrocity. On 12 December 2022. Azerbaijan blockaded the Lachin Corridor — the only road and the lifeline connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world, in blatant violation of its obligations under international humanitarian law and the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020. The blockade was further consolidated by the installation of an illegal checkpoint on 23 April, as well as by the complete cessation of any movement, even of humanitarian aid. through the Corridor since 15 June. The nine-month-long blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh has caused a severe shortage of food, medical supplies, fuel and other essential goods, almost depleting the resources necessary for the survival of the population. The blockade was accompanied by the deliberate disruption of electricity and natural-gas supplies, further exacerbating the situation and transforming it into a full-fledged humanitarian crisis.  I would like to emphasize that on 22 February the International Court of Justice indicated a provisional measure according to which: “Azerbaijan ... shall take all measures ... to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.” That order was later reconfirmed by the Court’s order of 6 July. A number of partner States; international organizations, including United Nations Special Rapporteurs; the International Committee of the Red Cross; Human Rights Watch; Freedom House; Amnesty International; and Transparency International have been continuously raising the alarm about the deteriorating situation on the ground. Moreover, on 16 August, during the emergency meeting of the Security Council convened at the request of Armenia (see S/PV.9397). the majority of Council member States stated clear positions regarding the need to unblock the Lachin Corridor, halt the suffering of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh and ensure their fundamental human rights — whereas in response to those clear-cut calls. Azerbaijan intensified its inhumane actions by launching a military attack against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. On 21 September, two days ago. the Security Council gathered once again to discuss the devastating situation in Nagorno-Karabakh (see S/PV.9422). The majority of Council members expressed their position regarding the imperative cessation of hostilities by Azerbaijan, the opening of the Lachin Corridor, the ensuring of international humanitarian access and the need to address the issue of the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The chronology of the truly devastating developments in our region proves that the issues there cannot be addressed merely through statements and generic calls. Armenia has repeatedly warned the international community about the need for concrete and practical action, including the dispatching of a United Nations inter-agency needs-assessment and fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh. But the international community, the United Nations, has failed to come to the rescue of the people for the past nine months — 285 days. The use of starvation as a method of warfare, depriving people of their means of subsistence, the obstruction and denial of humanitarian access by United Nations agencies and the hindering of the humanitarian activities of the International Committee of the Red Cross constitute early warning signs of an atrocity crime. A number of international human rights organizations, lawyers, genocide scholars and reputable independent experts, including the former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and the former Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, have already characterized the situation on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh as posing the risk of genocide. Just yesterday the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide. Alice Wairimu Nderitu. stressed: “Military action can only contribute to escalating what is already a tense situation and to put the civilian population in the area at risk of violence, including the risk of genocide and related atrocity crimes. All efforts need to be made to prevent violence and sustain peace.” Let me draw the Assembly’s attention to the fact that after the failure to prevent genocide in Rwanda, the United Nations managed to create mechanisms for prevention, thus making “never again” a meaningful pledge. But today we are on the brink of another failure. The people of Nagorno-Karabakh, trapped in the inhumane blockade and hostilities inflicted by Azerbaijan and living with a threat to their very existence, continue to hope that prevention will not remain just a word but will become a line of action. The claims that the United Nations is not present on the ground and therefore has no capacity to verify the situation cannot be an excuse for inaction. The United Nations is a universal body that should stand with the victims of mass atrocity crimes all over the world regardless of the status of a territory instead of making dismissive statements. We are hopeful that the international community, namely, the United Nations, will demonstrate strong political will and condemn the resumption of hostilities and the targeting of civilian settlements and infrastructure, and demand full compliance with obligations under international humanitarian law. including those related to the protection of civilians, in particular women and children, and critical civilian infrastructure.  The international community should undertake every effort for the immediate deployment of an inter-agency mission by the United Nations to Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim of monitoring and assessing the human rights, humanitarian and security situation on the ground. The unimpeded access of United Nations agencies and other international organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh, in line with humanitarian principles, are an imperative. In that regard, we also stress the need to ensure the full cooperation of the parties in good faith with the International Committee of the Red Cross to address the consequences of the military attack, including the removal and identification of bodies, the search for and rescue of missing personnel and civilians, the release of prisoners of war and the safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance, in strict compliance with international humanitarian law. Azerbaijan must finally adhere to its legally binding obligations and ensure the freedom of movement of persons, vehicles and cargo, along the Lachin Corridor, in line with the International Court of Justice orders. We firmly believe that relevant mechanisms must be introduced to ensure the return of persons displaced in the course of the recent military attack, as well as persons and refugees displaced as a result of the 2020 war. to their homes on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions under the monitoring and control of the relevant United Nations agencies, as foreseen in the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020. A sustainable and viable international mechanism for preventing the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population of Nagorno-Karabakh and for ensuring dialogue between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and officials in Baku to address the issues related to the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is an imperative. Furthermore. excluding punitive actions against Nagorno-Karabakh political and military representatives and personnel should be guaranteed. We also believe that the international community must demand the exit of any Azerbaijani military and law-enforcement bodies from all civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh to prevent panic, provocations and any escalation as well as the endangering of the civilian population and to create the possibility for a United Nations-mandated peacekeeping force to maintain stability and security in Nagorno-Karabakh. The ethnic cleansing policy against Nagorno-Karabakh is just part of the bigger picture. In that regard, we clearly see an intention to involve the Republic of Armenia in military actions, thus widening the geography of hostilities into our sovereign territories. The unwillingness of Azerbaijan to genuinely and constructively engage in a peace process with Armenia, including a recognition of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia, the withdrawal of its armed forces from the occupied territories of Armenia, delimitate the Armenian-Azerbaijani interstate borders based on the latest available maps from 1975 corresponding with the Almaty 1991 declaration, create a demilitarized zone along the interstate border, clearly illustrates the intentions I have mentioned. Likewise. Azerbaijan has a hidden agenda when it comes to unblocking regional transport and economic communications. As a landlocked country. Armenia is vitally interested in the implementation of the agreement on the unblocking of all regional communications on the basis of sovereignty, national jurisdiction, equality and reciprocity. Armenia is a long-standing advocate of inclusive and equitable transport connectivity with a view to promoting trade, cooperation and people-to-people contacts, whereas our neighbour continues to impose the three-decade-long blockade of Armenia as part of its well-established policy of economic coercion of my country. The so-called “corridor” logic promoted by Baku and its hidden and open sponsors is aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Armenia and justifying its territorial claims. The narrative it has generated along with the use of force by Azerbaijan against both the Republic of Armenia and the people of Nagorno-Karabakh show that forcefully imposing on Armenia an extraterritorial corridor, a corridor that would pass through the territory of Armenia but would be out of our control, could be the next goal. That is unacceptable to us and should be unacceptable to the international community. Despite all the challenges. Armenia continues to engage in negotiations to achieve the normalization of relations and the establishment of a lasting peace in the region and supports the efforts of international partners to that end. Respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty within the internationally recognized borders and addressing the underlying causes of the conflict, namely, the rights and security of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, are the foundation of a lasting peace. In conclusion, let me state that the people of Armenia will firmly stand for our sovereignty, independence and democracy and will overcome the hybrid war unleashed against us.