The statements made by President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev two days ago, on November 8, 2022 once again prove that the geopolitical ambitions of the Azerbaijani authorities continue to be a threat to the security and stability of the South Caucasus and the wider region.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this today, 10 November, during the regular Cabinet Meeting of the Government.

That speech, full of unaddressed insults addressed to the international community and arrogance addressed to the Republic of Armenia, where the President of Azerbaijan tries to accuse Armenia and our government of not fulfilling the agreements and obligations, proves the diametrically opposite. Moreover, Aliyev’s statements were made on the day after the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington and discussions on a possible peace treaty, when the delegations of the parties had not even managed to return to their capitals.

With that notorious speech, the leadership of Azerbaijan grossly violated the written agreement on refraining from the use of force and the threat of use of force, recorded in the trilateral statement adopted in Sochi on October 31, just a few days ago. Contrary to the Sochi statement of October 31 and the Prague statement of October 6 of this year, the leader of Azerbaijan speaks about his ambitions towards the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, with an obvious motive to terrorize the civilian population with the threatening use of the names and aliases of a number of Armenian settlements.

Violations of statements and agreements adopted in trilateral and other formats by Azerbaijan have a chronic nature, which is expressed in the following.

In December 2020, Azerbaijan illegally occupied the settlements of Khtsaberd and Hin Tagher of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas, contrary to the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, according to which a complete ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone comes into effect, all military operations are stopped and the parties remain in their positions.

Azerbaijan carried out a similar occupation in March 2022, invading the zone of responsibility of the Russian Federation’s peacekeeping forces in Nagorno-Karabakh and violating the line of contact defined by the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, and now the President of Azerbaijan proudly calls it “Operation Parukh”. Azerbaijan violates the ceasefire regime almost on a daily basis, including on the line of contact established by the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, simultaneously declaring that Nagorno Karabakh does not exist.

This claim itself is a gross violation of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020. In addition, in that well-known document signed by Azerbaijan, the name “Nagorno Karabakh” is mentioned 4 times.

Azerbaijan has not taken steps so far to start a dialogue visible for the international community with the representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, about which it assumed obligation at a number of international platforms. At the same time, Azerbaijan is trying to show itself as constructive and declares that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are “their citizens and their rights and security are guaranteed”.

To what extent this claim is true can be practically proven by checking what conditions Azerbaijan has created and what steps it has taken for the safe return of thousands of residents of Hadrut and other Armenian-populated areas of Nagorno-Karabakh, who were displaced as a result of the 44-day war in 2020. Azerbaijan has not taken any steps in this direction, which is a gross violation of point 7 of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020. In violation of this same point, Azerbaijan is preventing the entry of representatives of the United Nations, particularly the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, into Nagorno-Karabakh.

These and a number of similar actions and statements make it obvious that Aliyev not only threatens, but is already preparing the genocide of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. This intention is also expressed in the comments of the President of Azerbaijan about the terms of deployment of the Russian peacekeeping force in Nagorno-Karabakh, which in turn grossly violate at least three of the statements made in the trilateral format.

According to him, the President of Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of having an army in Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the preparations for the Armenian Genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh.

 “The trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020 states that peacekeepers are deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh for a period of 5 years, with the automatic extension of successive five-year periods. I repeat, automatically extended. This essentially means that the peacekeepers are stationed in Nagorno-Karabakh indefinitely, unless all issues related to the rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are addressed and all security concerns of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh are resolved,” he said

Details in the video