MOSCOW (News.am) — The Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova has been meeting with her colleagues in Moscow for the second day.
On February 14, she met with Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko. The Russian side reported in detail on bilateral inter-parliamentary cooperation, and briefly talked about regional issues: they discussed the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement and the Lachin corridor.
The Azerbaijani side listed in great detail all the claims voiced by Gafarova. “According to her, despite Baku’s initiatives, “Armenia continues to occupy a destructive position in the negotiations and, in open violation of the requirements of the trilateral statement, has not yet fully vacated Azerbaijani territories, but rather prevents the opening of all economic and transport links in the region,” the Azerbaijani speaker said.
“Gafarova thoroughly informed the Russian side about the recent situation with the Lachin road. She stressed that Azerbaijan strictly follows the trilateral statement and has completely fulfilled all its obligations under it. Paragraph 6 of the document says that Azerbaijan ensures the safety of two-way traffic of citizens and goods, and the movement of vehicles in both directions along the Lachin road,” Azerbaijani media quotes, “At that it was noted that Armenia has been misusing the Lachin road for over 2 years to transport mines, ammunition and military personnel, as well as to export Azerbaijani natural resources looted here from Azerbaijan. The protest action against illegal economic activities in the places of temporary deployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan as well as against the exploitation of natural resources and misuse of the Lachin road is the realization of the legal right of Azerbaijani citizens. It is necessary to fulfill the just demands of the protesters. () She stressed that the statements of the Armenian side about the alleged blockade of the Lachin road by the Azerbaijani side, the blockade of the Armenian population and the humanitarian crisis are completely groundless. Every day, various vehicles, including vehicles of peacekeeping forces, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Armenian ambulances pass along the Lachin road to refute the groundless allegations of the Armenian side. So, all this proves that Armenia is resorting to manipulation in an attempt to mislead the international public,” Gafarova said.
