Month: June 2022

On June 16, Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan met with Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolay Patrushev, who arrived in Yerevan to participate in the regular sitting of the CSTO Security Council Committee.

During the meeting, Grigoryan expressed confidence that all necessary opportunities and preconditions are there for expanding the scope of cooperation between the Security Council offices of the two countries.

Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, the interlocutors discussed a wide range of security issues. Nikolay Patrushev stressed that Armenia is a strategic partner of Russia and that Moscow supports Armenia in ensuring regional security.

Armen Grigoryan briefed his Russian counterpart on the regional security situation, the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the work of demarcation and demarcation commissions, as well as the process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

By attempting to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by the use of force in 2020, as well as by invading the sovereign territory of Armenia, Azerbaijan has grossly violated its commitments undertaken with the accession to the Council of Europe, and this must be properly addressed by the Council of Europe and its member-states, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said at a joint press conference with visiting Secretary General of the Council of Europe Marija Pejčinović Burić.

The Foreign Minister reaffirmed the readiness of the Government of the Republic of Armenia to put efforts towards the establishment of stability and peace in the region. In this context he emphasized the fundamental importance of addressing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which, he said, should include the provisions of ensuring the security and all the rights of the people of Artsakh, and final determination of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“The people of Artsakh have the same rights as everyone and the fact of being in the conflict zone cannot deprive the Armenians of Artsakh of their universal fundamental rights,” Minister Mirzoyan stated.

“Humanitarian issues resulting from the aggression unleashed against Artsakh – the issues of the return of Armenian prisoners of war held in Azerbaijan and the humanitarian access to Artsakh remain unresolved, and the politicization of these is unacceptable. The Anti-Armenian and warmongering rhetoric, physical and psychological terror against the civilian population are unacceptable in the same way,” he added.

“We believe that the Council of Europe, its relevant bodies and leaders should be more determined at least in the issues of Armenian prisoners of war and the humanitarian access to Artsakh, and put utmost effort so that the interim decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, PACE Resolutions and the provisions of the memorandum of the Commissioner for Human Rights issues on November 8, 2021, be respected,” he stated.

Statements made by Azerbaijani officials should be discussed in the CSTO format, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at a meeting with members of the CSTO Committee of Security Council Secretaries – Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Alexander Volfovich, Secretary of the Security Council of Kazakhstan Gizat Nurdauletov, Secretary of the Security Council of Tajikistan Nasrullo Makhmudzoda, and CSTO Secretary General Secretary General of the CSTO Stanislav Zas.

In his opening remarks, PM Pashinyan said:

“Dear friends,

I welcome you on the occasion of the regular sitting of the Committee of Secretaries of the Security Councils of the CSTO member states in the Republic of Armenia, which is taking place in our country within the framework of Armenia’s chairmanship in the CSTO.

This is really a double jubilee year for our organization. We are celebrating the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Collective Security Treaty, the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and it is a great honor for us to chair our organization in this jubilee year. You know, we have discussed it many times, increasing the efficiency of the CSTO is one of the most important priorities of our presidency, we thought and still think that the rapid and crisis response mechanisms in specific situations should be improved.

I would like to note that, in principle, we also have a legal framework in this regard, On December 10, 2010, by the decision of the Collective Security Council of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, a provision was adopted regulating CSTO’s response to crisis situations, and I think this document quite clearly defines the mechanisms that exist in our Organization. In particular, it outlines what we should consider a crisis situation and how we should respond to it.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that there is such a concept in that provision – “mission”, which is defined as follows: A group of experts from the member states appointed by the CSTO member states in accordance with this provision, to be temporarily sent to the crisis zone to monitor the situation, understand the situation on the spot, develop proposals on the further measures of the Organization aimed at preventing the crisis situation and solving it, as well as for fulling other functions defined by the CSTO Collective Security Council.

I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that in the second chapter of this document there is a chapter called “Monitoring”, and the CSTO Secretariat regularly collects information and conducts analysis of the situation in the area of responsibility of the organization and on its development trends in order to identify the preconditions for crisis situations.

Why am I talking about this? You know that the Azerbaijani armed forces invaded our territory in May last year, and we applied to the CSTO. I have spoken about it many times, and as the Chairman, I want to emphasize that this issue should be discussed properly. Why? Because we see that aggressive statements by Azerbaijan continue, we should discuss this issue, especially considering that Armenia has applied to the CSTO, as it is a very fundamental issue for both us and the Organization.

I would also like to mention the following: After the invasion into our territory by the Azerbaijani troops, there were some comments that there is no demarcated border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Frankly, this is a very dangerous wording, because here we are, saying the area of responsibility of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. If we say that the borders along which the demarcation and delimitation processes have been carried out should be taken into account, it may confuse the notion of the CSTO area of responsibility, because the question arises: where does the CSTO area of responsibility begin, where does the CSTO area of responsibility end?

Our position is that there is a concrete border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, because in 1991, when the Commonwealth of Independent States was established, an interstate agreement was signed, which clearly states that the countries mutually recognize each other’s existing borders. This refers to the administrative boundaries of the Soviet period, and I think we should have this as a starting point. The opposite interpretation of this situation, I think, will reduce the effectiveness of the CSTO.

I hope that the nuances mentioned during this meeting and during your sitting will also be discussed. I recently raised this issue during the informal CSTO summit in Moscow. We have started a discussion, once again, as the Chairman, I would like to instruct the CSTO Secretary General to organize this issue in accordance with our charter documents, as the situation in our region is stable but tense. And the statements made by Azerbaijani officials should be a warning sign, I think we should discuss this issue in the CSTO format.

Let me welcome you once, I’m so glad to see you. And I am very happy for the dynamics that occured in the CSTO in the post-Covid period, because in the last two years we have actually had very little contact with the existing’s formats. Of course, we have continued to work online, but I think we all agree that such meetings and contacts are very important for our work. I am glad that we returned to this regime, it happened in the year of our presidency, in this important jubilee year.”

The Prime Minister discussed issues related to the agenda and activities of the Organization with the Secretaries of the Security Councils of the CSTO member states. The participants of the sitting exchanged views on regional and international security challenges.

The Government of the Republic of Armenia has repeatedly proved its readiness to make efforts for the establishment of long-term stability and peace in the South Caucasus, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told Armenpress.

The comments come after the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev accused Armenia of being insincere in the process of achieving peace.”

“At the same time, it is obvious that these efforts cannot be one-sided, Azerbaijan must also take active and sincere steps in this direction. The establishment of peace cannot be the result of the efforts of one side alone, and peace talks cannot be based on the proposals of one side only,” Minister Mirzoyan said.

“It is obvious that for the success of these efforts, it is necessary to address the whole set of existing issues that have caused the conflict. In this context, the statements made by official Baku about the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are at incomprehensible or question the sincerity of the Azerbaijani authorities’ intention to achieve peace. Whatever statements are made, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue continues to exist until the issues of the security of the Armenians of Artsakh, sufficient guarantees for the protection of all rights of the Armenians of Artsakh, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh arising from them are not addressed. In the modern world, the situation created by the use of force cannot be the solution to a problem,” the Foreign Minister added.

“The assertion that as a result of the use of force even Nagorno Karabakh does not exist, does not speak about the constructiveness of Azerbaijan. Needless to say that this, of course, corresponds neither to the de-facto reality, the most important part of which is the existence of Artsakh Armenians in Artsakh and the presence of Russian peacekeeping forces to ensure their security, nor the November 9 trilateral declaration, which stopped the war and clearly defines the existence of Nagorno Karabakh,” Mirzoyan said.

“The same can be said about the statements of the Azerbaijani authorities on the non-existence of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs. First of all, no one has suspended it or can suspend the international mandate of the Co-chairs to contribute to the political settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict without the relevant decision of the international institute defining it. In that case, it is incomprehensible that if the parties really want to negotiate sincerely, to find mutually acceptable solutions, to achieve a stable, comprehensive peace, then why should not those talks take place in the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs’ format? A format which has the clear support of the international community and not to using its experience and potential is simply not logical and reasonable,” he noted.

Commenting on Ilham Aliyev’s claims that the Armenian side is delaying the process of unblocking the region, the Foreign Minister said: “We have always stated that we are interested in opening all the transport and economic infrastructures in the region. This is evidenced by the trilateral statements adopted by the Russian mediation on January 11 and November 26, as well as the agreements reached in Brussels.”

He emphasized that Armenia has been involved in the discussions in good faith and added that the process would have been much smoother if there were no statements by Azerbaijan about extraterritorial corridor, which have nothing to do with the trilateral declaration of November 9, as well as with the commitments assumed by the statements I mentioned.

“As for Azerbaijan’s efforts to draw parallels between the Lachin corridor and the regional transport routes to be unblocked, they obviously cannot have the same status, at least arising from the provisions of the trilateral declaration signed on November 9, 2020, which clearly define the status of the Lachin corridor. Moreover, Nagorno Karabakh and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic have different statuses, different neighborhoods, different security environments. Accordingly, their relations with Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be identical,” the Foreign Minister stated.

“I would like to emphasize again that the November 9 declaration envisages unblocking of all infrastructures in the region, while Azerbaijan is delaying in taking steps in this direction. We are ready for unblocking the region within the framework of the agreements on the preservation of the sovereignty of the countries and jurisdiction over roads, and the recent talks between the Deputy Prime Ministers of the two countries in Moscow followed this logic,” he concluded.