Commentary by the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan on the construction by Armenia of the third highway connecting the occupied territories of Azerbaijan with Armenia
The construction of the next, third road linking Armenia with the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, currently under occupation is part of the illegal activities carried out by the occupying country of Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent regions of Azerbaijan. This step of Armenia is aimed at strengthening the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent regions of Azerbaijan by the aggressor country, and it may also serve to purposefully changing the demographic situation, continue illegal settlement, robbery, exploitation and transportation of natural resources in these territories.
The report of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan on “Illegal economic and other activities in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan” prepared in 2016, as well as the report of 2019 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and “Azercosmos” OJSC, containing the satellite images of illegal activities of Armenia in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, presented enough evidences of illegal activities carried out by the occupying country. These data indicate that illegal transportation of natural resources is carried out along the occupied part of the international border between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and that Armenia plays the role of a transport point for transporting products illegally produced in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as well as natural resources from these territories to international markets. Thus, the main reason of the construction of the third highway by Armenia through the occupied territories of Azerbaijan is the intention of the aggressor state to consolidate the occupation by continuing its illegal activities and annex the Azerbaijani territories.
The illegal activities of Armenia contradict its own international obligations, and are also a gross violation of the norms and principles of international law, as well as the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and their Additional Protocols. As is well known, the international community unequivocally expressed its position in connection with the aggressive policy of Armenia in the related resolutions of the UN Security Council, as well as in numerous resolutions and documents adopted by various international organizations so far. At the same time, the resolutions and statements condemning the illegal activities of Armenia in the occupied territories, as well as calling to refrain from rendering any aid or assistance, including through economic activities, to maintain the situation resulting from the occupation, were adopted by the member-states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and Non-Aligned Movement. The recent joint statement by the members of the European Parliament with regard to the illegal activity of Armenia should be considered as concrete appeal addressed to the occupying country.
The policy of Armenia, trying to annex the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, is doomed to failure. The only way to achieve a sustainable settlement of the conflict is to ensure the unconditional and complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan, as demanded by the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.
All responsibility for the policy of aggression against Azerbaijan, maintaining the Azerbaijani territories under military occupation and the violation of the fundamental rights of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis subjected to ethnic cleansing in these territories, as well as for all illegal activities carried out on these lands, rests with Armenia. The occupying country will be responsible sooner or later for its deeds.