"Lachin road no longer available for Armenia's illegal activities" Azerbaijan's representative office in NATO

The Azerbaijani mission to NATO has accused Yerevan of promoting false narratives about the situation around the Lachin road, where the environmental protest continues, explaining Armenia's actions as desperation due to the lack of the possibility of using it for illegal activities.

"Many false narratives are being pushed by Armenia to distort the realities on the ground... It is a no-brainer why Armenia gets so desperate as the Lachin road is no longer available for its illegal activities, plundering natural resources, and transfer of weapons and personnel, as it should have been in the letter and spirit of the Trilateral Statement (dated November 10 2020)," the representative office said in a statement posted on its microblog on Twitter.

The country's representative office in NATO stressed that "the Lachin road in its entirety is a sovereign territory of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan agreed on the usage of the Lachin road solely for humanitarian purposes under Para 6 of the Trilateral Statement and even commissioned a newly-built road for Armenian residents in less".

"Azerbaijan honoured all its commitments in good faith, while Armenia has been using the Lachin road for illegal activities since the first days. Armenia also failed to open all transport communications in the region in flagrant violation of Para 9 of the Trilateral Statement," the NATO mission stressed.

"Armenia was using the Lachin road for illegal transfer of arms and personnel. Armenia first denied and then had to acknowledge the illegal presence of its Armed forces on Azerbaijani soil, which, among other things, violates Para 4 of the Trilateral Statement," the mission said.

Baku noted that over the past four months, Azerbaijan had discovered 2,700 Armenian-made mines on the liberated territories in Karabakh and East Zangazur.

"In just the last four months, Azerbaijan found 2,700 Armenia-produced landmines in the liberated territories. The landmines were manufactured in 2021 and transferred by Armenia through the Lachin Corridor, the only available route to do so," the NATO mission said. They also added that Azerbaijan had raised the issue of illegal economic activity in Armenia since November 2021, but Yerevan ignored this call.

Baku noted that the Lachin road is fully open for humanitarian purposes in accordance with the trilateral statement.

"Armenia's allegations on the 'blockade' are groundless and could easily be dismantled by hundreds of available video footage. ICRC vehicles freely pass through the road," the mission said, adding that "Armenia and some puppets deliberately do not allow civilians to use the Lachin road to create a false narrative about the "blockade".