Jeyhun Bayramov: Armenia not interested in transparency of movement on Lachin road Full text of Azerbaijani FM's letter to UN Secretary General

The letter of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov addressed to the UN Secretary General in connection with the decision of the International Court of Justice on the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination of February 22, 2023, has been circulated as a document of the Security Council and the General Assembly.

The information was posted on the Foreign Ministry's website, Caliber.Az reported.

The letter reads:

"I am writing to you with regard to the judgment on the provisional measures handed down by the International Court of Justice on February 22, 2023, in the case concerning the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Armenia v. Azerbaijan).

At the outset, I would like to note that Azerbaijan is committed to complying with the Court's ruling and continues to meet its obligations under international law.

As you may already know, Armenia has asked the Court to specify the following three temporary measures against Azerbaijan in the context of the situation that Armenia claims has developed on the Khankendi-Lachin road in Azerbaijan:

(a) "Azerbaijan should cease organizing and supporting the alleged 'protests' which are blocking the uninterrupted free movement along the Lachin corridor in both directions";

(b) "Azerbaijan should immediately restore the full supply of natural gas and other utilities to Nagorny Karabakh and refrain from derailing or impeding the process";

(c) "Azerbaijan must ensure uninterrupted free movement of all persons, vehicles, and cargoes through the Lachin corridor in both directions".

The Court found the first two above-mentioned provisional measures unreasonable and thus rejected both measures in their entirety.

The Court's order rejecting these requests confirms that the allegations that Armenia continues to recklessly propagate are not substantiated: Armenia has failed to provide factual evidence to support its allegations that the protests on the Khankendi-Lachin road by a group of Azerbaijani environmental activists were "organized by the Government of Azerbaijan" and that "Azerbaijan disrupts natural gas supply and other utilities (such as electricity and Internet)" to the area of temporary deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.

With regard to the third measure sought by Armenia, the Court refused to adopt the measure in the form requested by Armenia. Instead, in its order of February 22, 2023, the Court took note of the statement of undertakings made by the party's representative at the hearing of January 30, 2023, to the effect that Azerbaijan has taken and undertakes to continue to make all steps within its power to guarantee the security of movement of persons, vehicles, and goods along the Lachin road, including continuous and regular interaction with the [International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)], communication and provision of A/77/774 S/2023/145 23-03694 3/5 assistance in establishing communication with Russian peacekeepers, taking measures to interact with local residents in Karabakh and — if Armenia finally decides that this is really its problem and agrees to sit down at the negotiating table — also with Armenia.

In the light of the evidence submitted by Azerbaijan, including its Statement of Commitment, the Court held that The Republic of Azerbaijan shall, pending the final determination of the case and in accordance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, take all measures at its disposal to ensure unhindered movement of persons, vehicles, and goods in both directions along the Lachin corridor.

The above terms of the Court's ruling reaffirm Azerbaijan's long-standing position that it is not responsible for the protests of a group of civil society organisations and Azerbaijan is not obliged to prevent them from exercising their legitimate right to protest.

The Court's judgment is also consistent with Azerbaijan's position that the movement along the Lachin road does not provide for "uninterrupted free movement" of "all" persons, goods, and vehicles in the sense that Armenia has put into its requested measure, namely without any control.

In particular, the Court's decision not to adopt the measure requested by Armenia is consistent with Azerbaijan's position that, in accordance with the tripartite declaration of November 10, 2020, adopted by Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation, and Armenia, the road cannot be used for unlawful military and economic purposes.

Azerbaijan's principled position was and still is that the road should only be used for "citizens, goods, and vehicles" for humanitarian purposes. As a party obliged to guarantee the safety of movement along the road, Azerbaijan has every right to seek agreement on the necessary control mechanisms to ensure that the Lachin road is used for the purposes for which it was intended.

In this regard, Azerbaijan has consistently stressed the need to ensure order and transparency in movement along this road in view of the widespread misuse of this road by Armenia.

It has been repeatedly brought to the attention of the international community that this road has been used by Armenia for the illegal movement of third-country nationals into the territory of Azerbaijan, for the rotation of the Armenian armed forces illegally stationed in the territory of Azerbaijan, for the transfer of military equipment and weapons, including landmines, into the territory of Azerbaijan and for the ongoing illegal trafficking of Azerbaijan's natural resources. Azerbaijan will implement the measure indicated by the Court to take all measures at its disposal to ensure the unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and goods through the Lachin corridor in both directions, and it remains committed to respond promptly to all humanitarian needs that the residents of Armenia may have.

Since the beginning of the protests organized by a group of peaceful demonstrators on the Khankendi-Lachin section of the road, Azerbaijan has been taking consistent measures at its disposal to address the situation and ensure the safety of movement along this road in accordance with the commitments that it has undertaken in the Trilateral Statement. As I informed you in detail in my letter dated December 19, 2022, neither the Republic of Azerbaijan nor the demonstrators have imposed any restrictions on movement along the road. In fact, no civilians approaching the protest site have been denied passage.

Since then, the traffic regime has remained unchanged and the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation, stationed on part of the internationally recognized territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan in accordance with the mentioned trilateral statement, continues to control the road. Although the road remains open for humanitarian purposes as stipulated in the trilateral statement, Azerbaijan continues to take seriously any possible negative consequences of the situation under its control.

The Government of Azerbaijan has maintained, and continues to maintain, close contacts with the ICRC office in Khankendi, Azerbaijan, and the peacekeeping contingent, and has taken all measures at its disposal to address any humanitarian needs that may arise from the situation. Thanks to measures taken in cooperation with the ICRC and the peacekeeping contingent, some 3,000 vehicles of the peacekeeping contingent, the ICRC and local Armenian residents have passed unhindered along the road since the beginning of the peaceful protest. The same applies to goods and vehicles.

In fact, more than 60 per cent of all vehicles travelling along the road are heavy-duty trucks carrying food, medicine and other goods for local people. In addition, Azerbaijan informed the ICRC of its readiness to address any shortage of such goods; although to date there has been no such need, Azerbaijan remains committed to meeting the humanitarian needs of its citizens of Armenian origin in the Karabakh economic region.

In addition, Azerbaijan continues to coordinate with the ICRC, which assists in the movement of people in both directions to meet medical needs and family reunification. In addition to engaging with the peacekeeping contingent and the ICRC, the central authorities of Azerbaijan will continue dialogue with local Armenian residents, offering another avenue for resolving issues related to the organisation of movement along the road. Regarding another avenue of work, Azerbaijan recently handed over its proposal to Armenia to establish border checkpoints on the international border between Armenia and Azerbaijan at the beginning of the Lachin road. This was publicly announced by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

This proposal by Azerbaijan was welcomed by relevant international parties as a credible and transparent mechanism for the smooth and safe use of the Lachin road and as a confidence-building measure between the two countries in the context of the ongoing process of normalization of inter-State relations after the conflict. A/77/774 S/2023/145 23-03694 5/5 Unfortunately, without giving any reasons or justification, Armenia publicly rejected this proposal and continues to actively avoid negotiations with Azerbaijan to resolve issues related to the misuse of the road.

Armenia thus demonstrates that it is not interested in transparency of movement along the Lachin road, especially since Armenia continues to spread false allegations about the actual situation on the Lachin road in an attempt to mislead the international community and hinder efforts to resolve this issue. Azerbaijan continues to urge Armenia to stop the misuse of the Lachin road and to launch genuine negotiations to address concerns over this issue through direct negotiations with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan calls on the international community to convince Armenia to do this.

I also take this opportunity to draw your attention to the fact that Armenia continues to fail to comply with the Court's order of December 7, 2021, that it "take all necessary measures to prevent incitement and promotion of racial hatred, including by organisations and individuals located on its territory, against persons of Azerbaijani national or ethnic origin". In blatant disregard of the mandatory measure indicated by the Court, organisations promoting racial hatred against Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis, such as the Armenia-based organisations VOMA and POGA, continue to promote discrimination and hatred on the grounds of ethnic and national origin against Azerbaijanis.

Since December 2021 Azerbaijan has repeatedly drawn the Court's attention to Armenia's failure to comply with the interim measure. However, open media sources provide clear evidence that VOMA, POGA, and similar organisations remain unpunished with the connivance of Armenian state authorities, freely carry out numerous activities such as military training, and have the power to use social media to spread racial hatred and attract supporters. Of particular concern is the widespread recruitment of children to participate in such training and other activities that are used to promote racism. A separate report documenting those facts has been circulated as a document of the General Assembly and of the Security Council (A/77/714-S/2023/62).