Speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament Sahiba Gafarova has highlighted Armenia’s military and political provocations as she addressed the 55th plenary session of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly held in Saint Petersburg, the Russian Federation. Noting that a few days ago, the Armenian side detained two Azerbaijani servicemen who went missing on the border, and videos showing their physical torture and inhuman treatment immediately began to appear on social media, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said that the relevant international organizations should investigate the violence and assess it accordingly. Touching upon the mine problem, Speaker Gafarova said that the mines Armenian side had planted in the liberated Azerbaijani territories pose one of the biggest hurdles in those lands’ revival. ‘Almost 300 Azerbaijani citizens have either been killed or gravely wounded in mine explosions since the end of the Patriotic War. What’s more, Armenia has not provided us with accurate maps of the minefields still despite repeated demands that they be handed over,’ Gafarova noted. The speaker also touched upon the Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization process, saying that although Azerbaijan offered Armenia a peace treaty based on the universally-accepted five principles of the international law, things are not going as got its hoped. ‘Contrary to the obligations it assumed, Armenia has not fully withdrawn its armed forces from the temporary deployment areas of the Russian peacekeepers in the Azerbaijani territory. Almost ten thousand Armenian military are still on the Azerbaijani territories. Besides, Armenia is using the Lachin road to transport mines, military equipment and armaments as well as export to its own territory the natural deposits mined in Azerbaijan illegally,’ the speaker underlined. Speaking about the eco-action organized on the Lachin-Khankendi road, Sahiba Gafarova said that the unimpeded movement of more than 6,000 vehicles of Russia’s peacekeepers and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as of those in need of medical assistance and of humanitarian cargoes along the Lachin road proves that Armenia’s claims that this road is blocked and that a ‘humanitarian disaster’ exists are groundless and false.’ Sahiba Gafarova emphasized that Armenia has still not fulfilled its obligation to open the Zangazur Corridor in line with the Trilateral statement. The speaker also highlighted the large-scale restoration and reconstruction works underway in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan. She noted that nine towns and hundreds of villages of Azerbaijan had been raised to the ground during the occupation period and that the whole infrastructure of those parts including roads, power plants and water lines were being built from scratch. ‘The Great Return program adopted for the return of former internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their native lands is being successfully implemented,’ Sahiba Gafarova underlined. Concluding her speech, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova also touched upon the activities of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, noting that the CIS PA has become an important inter-parliamentary institution as an effective mechanism of cooperation between the CIS countries.

Source: Azerbaijan State News Agency