BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 7. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan has issued a statement, following misleading reports from special rapporteurs and an independent expert of the UN Human Rights Council, Trend reports.
"It is regrettable that some special rapporteurs and an independent expert of the UN Human Rights Council stated that the "Lachin corridor" is "blocked" by Azerbaijan, a "tense humanitarian situation" has arisen in "Nagorno-Karabakh". This indicates attempts to turn UN bodies into an instrument of political manipulation.
It is worrying that the UN special rapporteurs and experts, who for 30 years turned a blind eye to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories, the violation of the rights of almost 1 million refugees and internally displaced persons, the presence of Armenian armed forces in the territories of Azerbaijan over the past three years, preventing the return of internally displaced persons to their at home, have been misled by Armenia's manipulations and are voicing biased statements. At the same time, it is unacceptable that these persons use such terms as "Nagorno-Karabakh" in statements, not respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, interfere in the internal affairs of our country and apply a double approach.
We would like to remind you once again that in addition to the fact that, contrary to its obligations, Armenia did not completely withdraw its armed forces from our lands, it carried out the transfer of the military through the Lachin road, supplied them with weapons and ammunition, and plundered the natural resources of Azerbaijan. All this was met with silence in the UN and other international organizations. In order to control its borders and prevent the illegal actions of Armenia, Azerbaijan has established a Lachin border checkpoint on its sovereign territories. The fact that the International Court of Justice, in its decision of July 6, unanimously rejected the appeal regarding the liquidation of this checkpoint, once again proved the groundlessness of the claims of the Armenian side. Despite the fact that Azerbaijan ensured the passage of Armenian residents, representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Russian peacekeeping contingent through the border crossing, the Armenian side spread false allegations about the alleged "tense humanitarian situation" in the region in order to continue its illegal activities in our territories. At the same time, Armenia committed provocations, such as shelling Azerbaijan's border guards on June 15, an attempt at smuggling, sending trucks to the territory of Azerbaijan on July 26 without permission.
Despite calls to refrain from provocations regarding the Lachin checkpoint and ensure safe passage, the Armenian side continued its provocations. Despite all these provocations, the Azerbaijani side creates conditions for the passage of Armenian residents, accompanied by the ICRC. As for meeting the needs of Armenian residents, despite the fact that Azerbaijan put forward a number of proposals in this regard, including the use of the Agdam-Khankendi road and other alternative roads, and they were supported by the European Union and the ICRC, the Armenian side opposes these proposals and blocked the entrance to the territory by erecting concrete barriers on alternative roads. All this once again showed that its statements about the "humanitarian situation" are political blackmail and manipulation.
Azerbaijan is making efforts to ensure sustainable peace and security in the region, and for this purpose has put forward initiatives on a peace agreement, delimitation and opening of communications. Biased statements instead of supporting these efforts will not help this process," the ministry said.