Armenian FM Ararat Mirzoyan's speech at the Human Rights Council 52nd Session

On February 28, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, who was in Geneva, participated in the UN Human Rights Council 52nd Session and delivered a speech.

"We believe that the protection of the human rights of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh has been continuously overlooked. While we can appreciate the gravity of the situation elsewhere because of other conflicts and crises, there cannot be any hierarchies of suffering based on geopolitical considerations and interests.

Against all odds, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh have been striving to exercise their human rights freely. This determination has not changed even after devastating repetitive waves of repression and aggression of Azerbaijan that killed thousands of people and ruined hundreds of towns and villages, civilian infrastructure, and cultural and religious heritage. The international community, however, remained largely inactive as Azerbaijan’s appetite was emboldened by impunity. The latter, then, attacked and occupied the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia.

In the atmosphere of such total impunity, Azerbaijan continues to breach principles of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. It has been for around 80 days that Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the outer world. Azerbaijan has also disrupted the electricity and is regularly cutting the gas supply. As a result, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan announced at the highest level that it can lift the blockade for all those who want to leave Nagorno-Karabakh. It is a creeping ethnic cleansing in making.

In this context, I would like to underline that on 22 February the International Court of Justice issued a legally binding provisional measure against Azerbaijan in the proceedings brought by Armenia against it, while unanimously rejecting Azerbaijan’s requests made in the parallel proceedings with respect to alleged laying of mines by Armenia. In the mentioned order, the Court has found that there is an imminent risk of irreparable harm to Armenians’ rights under the Convention for Elimination of Racial Discrimination and ordered Azerbaijan to take all necessary measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. The ICJ provisional measures are legally binding, however, thus far Azerbaijan failed to lift the blockade of the Lachin corridor.

Azerbaijan commits this crime amid the wide and truly global demand to open the Lachin Corridor, including by the UN Secretary-General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights," Mirzoyan stated.

Armenian Deputy PM presented to the US Ambassador the importance of a clear international response to the blocking of the Lachin Corridor

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Mher Grigoryan received the newly appointed Ambassador of the United States of America to Armenia Kristina Kvien.

As we learn from the message issued by the RA Government, welcoming Kvien, the Deputy Prime Minister congratulated her on her appointment to the position of ambassador and wished her effective work in her responsible mission.

The interlocutors discussed the prospects for the development of trade and economic relations between the two countries.

Lavrov commented on the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement

In a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov referred to the mediation efforts of the EU in the South Caucasus, stating that the European Union is openly abusing its relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan.

"As for the statements coming from Brussels, we cannot comment on them in detail. We see how the European Union is openly abusing its relations with Armenia, and Azerbaijan, including by promoting its so-called mission in the territory of Armenia, which raises serious doubts from the point of view of legitimacy, which raises many questions, including its functions, mandate, duration, as well as also from the point of view of the added value of that mission in efforts to regulate Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. However, it is the sovereign choice of the parties with whom to cooperate and with whom not," Lavrov said.

Speaking about Russia's mediating role in the settlement process, Lavrov said that Moscow remains ready to organize a meeting of the RA and Azerbaijan foreign ministers for the purpose of discussing the peace treaty. According to him, Baku is ready, Yerevan has said that it is not against either, but does not give a final agreement.

"I think, we will not offer our services too persistently, but they are very well known to both sides," concluded Lavrov.

It should be reminded that in On December 23, 2022, a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia, and Azerbaijan was scheduled in Moscow, but the Armenian side announced its decision not to participate in the meeting, stating that the reason was the blocking of the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia by Azerbaijan.

Since independence, we are the closest to the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations - Alen Simonyan

We have been ready to sign a peace treaty for a long time and we have said about it many times, but the new proposals presented by Azerbaijan and the new situations taking place on the border make it a problem for them to sign a peace treaty as soon as possible. But we will do our best and move as quickly as possible toward a peace treaty. RA NA Speaker Alen Simonyan said this in a conversation with journalists in the parliament.

As for the journalists' observation of which country or structure will be the international guarantor that the Armenian side is talking about and which will ensure the rights and security of the people of Stepanakert and Nagorno-Karabakh, Simonyan answered:

"Who will be able to implement it on the ground?" It is clear that all agreements should have some kind of guarantee, because now we have an agreement of November 9, with the implementation of which we are also dissatisfied, and the Azerbaijani side also expresses dissatisfaction. We think that a mechanism is definitely necessary," said the Speaker of the National Assembly.

Commenting on the world court ruling, the Speaker said that Armenia will maximally make use of this decision in all international organizations.

“We are achieving rather big success internationally and we will continue to work in this direction. I think that the closure of the Lachin corridor inflicted greater harm on Azerbaijan than on Armenia and Artsakh politically. Yes, we suffered, indeed, we are taking it hard, yes, our compatriots are blocked, and we have problems. But by my evaluation, politically Azerbaijan has appeared in a deadlock,” Speaker Simonyan said.

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