We will defend our sovereignty, territorial integrity, statehood and independence by all possible means – Prime Minister
An extraordinary session of the Security Council took place, chaired by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. In addition to the Security Council members, the session was also attended by President of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister Arayik Harutyunyan and head of parliamentary faction of the “Civil Contract” Party Hayk Konjoryan.
At the beginning of the session the Prime Minister referred to the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, where he particularly said,
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“Honorable President of the National Assembly,
Dear members of the Security Council,
Dear colleagues,
Dear compatriots,
Today, at about 13:00, the units of the Azerbaijani armed forces launched an attack in the eastern direction of Armenia’s borderline. The Armed Forces of Armenia took countermeasures. The adversary has suffered significant manpower losses. At least 6 armored vehicles have been destroyed. We have also suffered casualties, and we will provide verified information on the number.
Now I would like all of us to honor the memory of our martyrs who fell defending the Motherland with a minute of silence.
Thank you.
Dear colleagues,
Dear compatriots,
The current developments can be unequivocally assessed as a direct aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.
As a result of the aggressive actions of Azerbaijan launched on May 12 of this year, Azerbaijan has occupied nearly 41 square kilometers of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia.
Under the lights of silence of our international partners, Azerbaijan continues its aggressive actions. My assessment is unequivocal: Azerbaijan and the forces encouraging it are targeting our sovereignty, our statehood, our independence.
Yes, today we had a difficult day, and we are living difficult days. But today we also showed that we are here, we exist, we are a state, we are a nation and the language of compulsion is inadmissible for us. We can negotiate, we can seek and find mutually acceptable solutions, we act as a responsible member of the international community. But we will not allow to speak with us in the language of arrogance.
I call on the international community to make statements condemning Azerbaijani aggression, targeted statements. Talks about border disputes are absurd and senseless. There is no border dispute, there is aggression against the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. The borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been clear since the period of the Soviet Union, by the legally binding agreements. And if the problem was the border dispute, Azerbaijan should have accepted our proposal of withdrawing forces simultaneously from the borderline between Soviet Armenia and Azerbaijan, deploying international observers along the borderline and launching the process of demarcation and delimitation of borders long ago. Azerbaijan, that does not accept this proposal, is an aggressor state and must unequivocally withdraw its forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia. Its hopes to impose its will on Armenia are futile.
The Government and the people of the Republic of Armenia are determined, and we will defend our sovereignty, territorial integrity, statehood and independence by all possible means.
At the same time, we continue to emphasize the need for a peaceful resolution of the situation, all our previous proposals are valid. We are committed to the provisions of the November 9 and January 11 trilateral statements.
Returning to the border situation, I can say that at the moment the situation on the border is relatively calm, but the situation remains extremely tense in general.
We will constantly provide verified information to the citizens of the Republic of Armenia.
Thank you”.
