Azerbaijan's growing aggressiveness towards Nagorno-Karabakh makes clear Azerbaijan's intentions to carry out ethnic cleansing of Armenians. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated this at the discussion, entitled "Security and Stability in the South Caucasus: The Prospect of Armenia," at the German Council on Foreign Relations , according to First Channel News.
Recently, president of Azerbaijan Aliyev announced that the Lachin corridor is open for those Armenians who want to leave Karabakh. It means that the Lachin corridor is closed for those Armenians who live in Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan said.
Despite this, the government of Armenia has shown political will and is taking decisive steps to open a new era of peace and stability in the South Caucasus and is constructively engaged in the Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiations, he added.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan negotiation process is proceeding in the following three main directions: agreement on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, unblocking transport communications and economic ties in the region, and border delimitation and security he noted.
Armenia has agreed to separate the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue from the Armenian-Azerbaijani process, with the logic that an international discussion mechanism be formed between Karabakh and Azerbaijan, he said.
It is important for Armenia to create a guarantee mechanism aimed at solving the security and rights issues of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians, which will have international visibility and engagement, he noted.
Humanitarian issues, such as the return of all Armenian POWs and the entry of international organizations into Nagorno-Karabakh, remain unresolved and are issues of primary concern for Armenia, the PM said.
Armenia strongly condemns Azerbaijan's continuous violations of the Geneva Convention on POWs, as at least 33 Armenian POWs have been sentenced to various terms of imprisonment on completely fictitious charges, he noted.
The fact that Azerbaijan refuses to return Armenian POWs to their homeland is another violation by Azerbaijan of point 8 of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, the Armenian PM stated.