BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 12
Trend:
In assessing the work of peacekeepers, I think we need to look at it from a broader perspective, and, of course, there are many sources of concern, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with local TV channels on January 12, 2022, Trend reports.
“At the same time, it would be unfair not to mention their positive function. They are performing an important function now. At the same time, they accompany the sending and transportation of both our servicemen and cargo to Kalbajar and Lachin districts, and I can say in principle that I am positive about their overall activities. Last year clarified many things, because at the same time, a new element emerged in our relations with Russia, which did not exist before. Azerbaijani-Russian relations have always been very positive. But last year, these relations became more dynamic and there were more contacts, including those at the presidential level and various other levels. This was a novelty for our relations, and this innovation could have created problems for bilateral relations or strengthened them. I can say that when analyzing last year and this year, the peacekeeping mission has had a positive impact on bilateral relations with Azerbaijani partners. Therefore, we must know this. The citizens of Azerbaijan must know this,” President Ilham Aliyev said.
“As for the issues of concern, this, of course, annoys us and several claims have been made to Russia regarding such illegal visits. Both the defense minister has sent several letters to his counterpart and objections were made to the head of the peacekeeping mission. The same steps were taken in connection with the recent illegal visit of Valerie Pecresse. We were told that they did not see it, did not know of it, that it fell out of focus, that she went there in an ordinary car, and so on. However, this doesn’t sound very convincing. I have to state everything the way it is – both positive and negative things. It was an organized trip, because Valerie Pecresse could not go there with the escort she wanted and went with a very limited number of people. She was accompanied by France’s former foreign minister, EU Commissioner Barnier, and an MP. They went there secretly and returned. The news came out only when they had returned. They were probably afraid that we would have stopped them in the Lachin corridor. Because if we knew they were there, we wouldn't have let them back, clearly. The Lachin corridor is under our control. You have been to Shusha and seen it. We can stop any car there and no-one can tell us anything. Therefore, such cases do occur. This is absolutely unacceptable and must be stopped. According to my information, Armenian representatives visiting Karabakh appeal to the peacekeeping mission regarding the visits of foreign citizens. These are either allowed or not allowed. In general, I can say that we have accurate information about all the events taking place at the entrance and exit to and from Khankandi and in surrounding areas. Therefore, it is not serious to try to conceal something from us or to say, “We did not see or did not know about that.”” Azerbaijani president said.
“Another irritating issue is that we see that the number of arrivals in Karabakh, Khankandi and other places controlled by Russian peacekeeping forces is very different from the number of departures. More people are leaving. We are watching it. We can also see that 91 percent of inbound cars – notice how accurate out information is, 91 percent – are not checked. However, only 46 percent of outbound cars are not checked. What does this show? It shows that Russian peacekeeping forces are trying to make the entrance easy and create certain problems for those leaving. In other words, they stop cars, question them and so on. So they want people not to leave. This cannot be a coincidence. There cannot be such a difference. We know the number of cars and people, we know how many people have entered and how many have left, and this is not acceptable. According to our information, 38,000 of the population who left during the second Karabakh war have now returned, and 11,000 of those who returned left permanently. It is estimated that 27,000 people now live in the area controlled by Russian peacekeepers. With the exception of these two issues, in general, I repeat, I have a good assessment of their mission. There were no serious incidents. The incidents have taken place on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, i.e. there were no serious incidents in that area,” the head of state said.