“Azerbaijan does everything to derail the agreements reached on the level of presidents on the expansion of the team of the personal representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office as well as creation of the mechanism for investigation of the ceasefire violations,” Armenian FM Edward Nalbandian stated in his lecture at the Italian Society for International Organization (SIOI) on Thursday.
As the press department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported, Nalbandian noted Azerbaijan is as the initiator of the ceasefire violations and consistently wants to keep its hands free from the international scrutiny over its continuous non-compliance.
“Given the defiant attitude of Azerbaijan towards international efforts a time has come for the international community for more tangible steps in order to curb Baku’s’ provocative and destructive policy,” Nalbandian said, adding there is no alternative to the negotiations and “Armenia will continue its efforts together with the Co-Chairs aimed at exclusively peaceful resolution of the conflict.”
Speaking of the negotiation process, Nalbandian pointed to the Azerbaijani maximalist, uncompromising stance in an “either our way or no way” manner and its threats of new hostilities. taking the negotiation process as a hostage, blackmailing and continuing constant profanation of the Co-Chairs.
In his remarks, FM Nalbandian also spoke of the constant ceasefire violations at the Line of Contact between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan over the past years, culminated
in April 2016 four-day large-scale aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh.
“It was accompanied by gross violations of the international humanitarian law, including Daesh style beheadings and other atrocities, in an apparent attempt to terrorize the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. The four-day military offensive in April was the culmination of the policy pursued by Baku during recent years but was not its end. It is obvious that through escalating the situation in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone Azerbaijan tries to shift the public attention from ongoing economic and social difficulties, gross human rights violations and public outrage in Azerbaijan,” Nalbandian said.