Tuesday, June 15 2021 20:10

ArmInfo.The Armenian Foreign Ministry (MFA) called the visit of the leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey (Ilham Aliyev and Recep Tayyip Erdogan) to the city of Shushi  an obvious provocation.

''We strongly condemn the joint visit of the Presidents of Turkey and  Azerbaijan on June 15 to the Armenian historic and cultural center of  Artsakh - Shushi, which is currently under the Azerbaijani  occupation, as an outright provocation against regional peace and  security.

It is noteworthy that this visit was preceded by the destruction of  the religious, historical and cultural heritage of the forcibly  displaced indigenous Armenian population, including the desecration  of the St. Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral - targeted by the  Turkish-Azerbaijani forces during and after the war against Artsakh,  as well as the complete destruction of the memorial commemorating the  victims of the Armenian Genocide.

Such actions of the Turkish and Azerbaijani authorities, aimed at  consolidating the consequences of the use of force against the people  of Artsakh, significantly undermine the international efforts to  establish stability in the region and are utterly unacceptable.  Restoration of the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh, which includes  de-occupation of the territories of the Republic of Artsakh and safe  return of the displaced population, is essential for overcoming the  Turkish-Azerbaijani genocidal threat against the Armenian people.

These provocative actions clearly reveal the false and misleading  nature of the statements coming from the official Ankara and Baku on  their intentions to normalize the  relations with Armenia and the  Armenian people. 

We once again emphasize that the elimination of the consequences of  the recent Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh should be  undertaken within the frameworks of the comprehensive settlement of  the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk  Group Co-Chairmanship.

The Artsakh Republic Foreign Ministry also reacted to the visit of  Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ilham Aliyev to the city of Shushi, which  was destroyed by Turkey and Azerbaijan in 1920 and 2020.  Having  severely condemned such visits to the occupied territories of  Artsakh, considering them as a provocation, the Foreign Ministry  called this visit  a claim for the continuation of the expansionist  and extremist policy.  "The provocative actions of Turkey should be  condemned by the international community, since such visits, voiced  by Ankara and Baku during these visits, the ideas, statements,  agreements reached, as well as the glorification of the medieval  aggressive policy are a serious threat to international and regional  security, a challenge to all civilized humanity, a blow to the  reputation of all organizations and structures of which Turkey is a  member, "the statement reads.