On March 26, Permanent Representative of Armenia to the OSCE, Ambassador Arman Kirakossian delivered a speech at the Meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council, Foreign Ministry reports.

Ambassador Kirakossian touched upon the March 19 military infiltration of the Azerbaijani armed forces along the line of contact in Martakert region of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic which resulted in four casualties of the Nagorno Karabakh defense army. He stressed that the response of the armed unit of the defense army inflicted numerous losses on the Azerbaijani subversive group and that Azerbaijan tries to hide its military losses, officially restricting access of journalists and representatives of civil society to borderline settlements.

As Kirakossian mentioned, for the first time since the ceasefire was established, Azerbaijan used 120 mm artillery, which indicates Baku’s intention to further escalate the situation. Such deliberate actions on Azerbaijani side are aimed at undermining the ceasefire, established by the trilateral agreements in May, 1994 and February, 1995, shifting the military balance. Ambassador Kirakossian stressed that this alarming development should be a matter of close attention of Minsk Group Co-Chairs and the Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office.

Ambassador Kirakossian noted that while the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Azerbaijani leadership sends the messages of hatred and xenophobia. In this regard, he quoted the statements by the President and Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan, where they voiced claims to the territory of the capital of Armenia and other territories, overtly expressing their intention to settle the Nagorno Karabakh conflict through military aggression.

Kirakossian highlighted that physical survival of the population of Nagorno Karabakh and protection from mass atrocities are the responsibility of the Nagorno Karabakh authorities. He recalled that no indigenous population survived in those parts of Nagorno Karabakh which fell under the control of Azerbaijani armed forces. In this context, Kirakossian stated that Azerbaijan strives to resume the military phase of the conflict to suppress the right of the people of Nagorno Karabakh to self determination.

Condemning power policy of the Azerbaijani leadership, the Ambassador stressed that Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the military escalation of the conflict and its consequences. He reiterated Armenia’s firm position that consolidation of ceasefire by implying confidence building measures is crucial to progress in peace talks.