Armenia Hands Protest Notes to Accredited Diplomatic Missions Whose Envoys Visited Occupied Territories of Artsakh

YEREVAN — The heads of the relevant diplomatic missions were invited to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia with regard to the participation of the diplomatic representatives of some countries in the visit organized by the Azerbaijani authorities to the occupied territories of Nagorno-Karabakh on July 9-10.

The ambassadors have been handed over note verbal addressed to the respective governments, wherein it was particularly stated that the Republic of Armenia considers utterly unacceptable the visit of diplomatic representatives accredited in Azerbaijan to the occupied territories of Artsakh, including Hadrut and a historical center of Artsakh – Shushi: regions which were ethnically cleansed and their population was a subject of war crimes and other mass atrocities committed by Azerbaijani armed forces during the recent aggression. It was emphasized that by arranging such events the Azerbaijani authorities are trying to legitimize the aggression against the people of Artsakh and to strengthen their own claims of having resolved the conflict by force.

During all the meetings, it has been underlined that the involvement of diplomatic representatives in such visits contradicts the spirit of cooperation existing between the Republic of Armenia and those countries, as well as to the position of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship. In this regard, Armenia strongly calls for refraining from any actions that may justify the use of force and thereby undermine regional peace and security.

The use of force and mass atrocities cannot settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the resolution of the conflict can be achieved only through negotiations under the auspices of the only internationally mandated format- the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has brought the above-mentioned position to the attention of the capitals of the respective countries, which hold non-resident diplomatic missions to Armenia.