The statement made due to the construction of the third highway by Armenia connecting the occupied Azerbaijani territories with the occupying country.

The statement said that the construction of another, third highway, connecting Armenia with the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, is part of the illegal activities carried out by occupying Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts of Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s step is aimed at consolidating the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan’s surrounding districts, and can also serve to purposefully change the demographic situation in these territories, to continue the illegal settlement, looting, exploitation of natural resources of the occupied territories, the MFA’s press service stated.

“The report “Illegal economic and other activities in the occupied Azerbaijani territories” prepared by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs back in 2016, as well as the reports prepared by the MFA and by Azercosmos OJSC in 2019, reflecting the illegal activities of Armenia in the occupied Azerbaijani territories in satellite imagery, provide sufficient evidence demonstrating the illegal activities of the occupying country,” said the statement.

“This evidence reveals the fact that Armenia plays the role of a transport point in transporting illegally manufactured products and natural resources of Azerbaijan to international markets. The illegal actions of Armenia contradict its international obligations, and are also a gross violation of the norms and principles of international law, the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols,” the statement noted.

“Armenia is fully responsible for the policy of aggression against Azerbaijan, the retention of Azerbaijani territories under military occupation and the violation of the fundamental rights of hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis subjected to ethnic cleansing in these territories, as well as for all illegal activities carried out on these lands. The occupying country will sooner or later be held responsible for its committed actions,” the MFA stated.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.