BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 20. The International and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee of the Milli Majlis (Parliament) of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Azerbaijani Members of the European Union-Azerbaijan Parliamentary Co-operation Committee issued a statement regarding January 19, 2023, resolution of the European Parliament, Trend reports.
The statement expresses protest against the biased and unfair resolution that the European Parliament adopted via special procedure on 19 January 2023, and we strongly refute the allegations resting on lies and fabricated information.
It is noted in the statement that Armenia has not yet fulfilled its obligations envisaged in the Trilateral Statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russia on November 10, 2020.
"It becomes clear that the pains Azerbaijan has taken since the signing of the Trilateral Statement to ensure peace and security in the region come under the premeditated and purposeful blow being dealt by those powers who chose to advocate separatism, terrorism and war. Those powers do not wish to see that certain circles in Armenia and their backers are nurturing revanchist plans and cherishing the hope that they will again plunge the region into a calamitous maelstrom," said the statement.
The statement noted that Armenia commits provocations on the border. Transportation of militants and military cargoes as well as narcotics and mines has been organized on the Lachin-Khankendi road. Illegal exploitation of mineral resources continues in the territory temporarily designated as an area of responsibility of the Russian peace-keeping contingent.
It is also mentioned in the statement that the peaceful protest of civil activists and ecologists on the Lachin-Khankendi road, brought about by the prevention of access to the specified area for monitoring purposes for state officials and experts of Azerbaijan, has been continuing for longer than a month now. Contrary to what is stated in the resolution of the European Parliament, there is no "blockade" of Armenian residents on the territory, the statement emphasizes.
The statement noted that the Lachin-Khankendi road is open for the haulage of humanitarian cargoes by the Russian peace-keepers and representatives of the Committee of the Red Cross as well as for transportation of Armenians living in Karabakh – including children and ailing persons.
"All that indicates clearly that certain groups within the European Parliament act while being under the influence of the Armenian Lobby and the pro-Armenian forces," said the statement.
"In view of all of the above, we now urge the leadership of the European Parliament to put an end to such devastating and biased forces, those mired in corruption, and, instead, to support the efforts to establish peace and stability in the region by passing unbiased documents reflecting the new realia set in the region of the South Caucasus," the statement concluded.