Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the UN Yashar Aliyev delivered a speech at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. During the speech, Aliyev expressed deep regret over Armenia's misuse of the Security Council for a state campaign of manipulation, distortion and falsification, and resolutely rejected all claims of the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the UN against Azerbaijan, saying that they are completely false and groundless.
The permanent representative noted that Karabakh, which is erroneously called ‘Nagorno-Karabakh’ by Armenia and some members of the council, is an internationally recognized sovereign region of Azerbaijan, which was occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years, and this is reaffirmed in the Security Council's resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884. He pointed out that the legal name of this territory of Azerbaijan at present is the Karabakh economic region or abbreviated Karabakh region.
As for the situation around the Lachin road, Aliyev once again reminded that Azerbaijan resolutely rejects all the claims of Armenia. "Neither the government of Azerbaijan nor the peaceful protesters closed the road to Lachin. The regime for the movement of citizens, cargo and vehicles along the route remains unchanged, and the peacekeepers continue to fulfill their duties related to the protection of the route,” Aliyev noted.
“Videos posted on social media show various types of vehicles, including ambulances and humanitarian aid convoys, passing unhindered. According to the trilateral statement, the Lachin road is intended to be used exclusively for humanitarian purposes,” the permanent representative stressed. “Misusing the road for any other purpose, including illegal military activities such as laying mines or illegal exploitation of Azerbaijan's natural resources is a violation of the terms of the trilateral statement and is unacceptable."
He expressed confidence that Azerbaijan will continue to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, the rights and security of its citizens in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law by all possible means. "Claims about the supposedly humanitarian consequences of the situation are also false. There are no obstacles to the supply of goods or essential health services to the local population in the region. This is nothing but another manifestation of Armenia's manipulation for clearly malicious political purposes," Aliyev said.
The diplomat added that for more than two years, Armenia, in violation of the fourth point of the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, refused to completely withdraw its armed forces and illegal armed formations from the territory of Azerbaijan, where the Russian peacekeeping contingent is temporarily deployed, and continue their illegal military operations there. Armenia violates the points of international law and the trilateral statement, making assumptions about the humanitarian significance of the Lachin road, but also actively uses it for military purposes, including the rotation of the personnel of the armed forces and the transfer of weapons to the area, he said.
The diplomat stated that along with the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the historical lands of Azerbaijan, Armenia committed environmental terrorism in the region. "Armenia, using the Lachin road, is plundering mineral deposits in the territory of Azerbaijan. Irrefutable, documented evidence of their large-scale illegal economic activities, grossly violating international legal norms, in the previously occupied territory of Azerbaijan, has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the international community. Of the 151 mineral deposits, identified on these lands before the occupation, 52 were first worked out in 1993-2020. In addition to the illegal exploitation of the natural resources of a sovereign state, mining operations were carried out without sufficient environmental control, wastewater treatment and land reclamation, without observing environmental technical standards," the permanent representative noted.
