At the meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on May 13, under the item ‘Current Issues’ of the agenda, the Armenia’s delegation presented an item entitled ‘On the invasion of the sovereign territory of Armenia by Azerbaijan’.
The Permanent Representative of the Republic of Armenia to the OSCE, Ambassador Armen Papikyan informed the OSCE participating States about the incursion of the Azerbaijani armed groups in the direction of Armenia’s Syunik province on May 12. He noted that Armenia views these actions as an encroachment on its sovereign territory, the aim of which is to create new sources of tension along the state border of Armenia, as well as psychological pressure on the civilian population of border areas.
Ambassador Papikyan also informed that the Armenia’s Government is currently trying to resolve the situation in a peaceful way in order to avoid further aggravation and possible victims. At the same time, Ambassador Papikyan stressed that Armenia will not tolerate such a provocative policy of Azerbaijan.
Then, Armenia’s Ambassador stated that the actions of Azerbaijan were preceded by the belligerent statements of the President of that country containing territorial claims to the Syunik province, up to the threat of use of force.
Armenia’s Permanent Representative also informed that “against the background of provocative actions of Azerbaijan, military exercises will be held in that country, which are held without prior notification and in violation of the requirements of the Vienna Document adopted in 2011. At least two of the military exercises conducted by Azerbaijan in recent years have been followed by the attacks on Artsakh in 2016 and 2020.”
Summing up, Ambassador Papikyan called on the OSCE participating States to respond adequately to such belligerent actions by Azerbaijan, noting that such gross violations of international law by Azerbaijan pose a serious threat to regional peace and security.
