Ararat Mirzoyan and Andrzej Kasprzyk discussed regional security and stability

YEREVAN, February 13. /ARKA/. On February 13, Foreign Minister of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan received Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reported.

It said during the meeting, issues on regional security and stability were discussed. The interlocutors touched upon the normalization process of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, developments on the draft peace treaty.

The situation in Nagorno-Karabakh resulting from the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan was also discussed.

On December 12, Azerbaijan effectively cut off access to Nagorno-Karabakh, letting a group of self-described Azerbaijani “eco-activists” with no history of environmental advocacy barge through Russian peacekeepers to block the sole road linking Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Local authorities had to close schools and put 120,000 inhabitants on ration cards as Azerbaijan continues to disrupt gas and electricity supplies amid sub-zero temperatures.

Armenia’s leaders accuse Azerbaijan of seeking to ethnically cleanse Nagorno-Karabakh by starving the local ethnic Armenian population and forcing it to leave.

Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev said in a January 10 TV interview: 'For those (of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians) who does not want to become Azerbaijani citizen, the road is not closed. They can leave. They can go on their own, or they can ride with Russian peacekeepers, or they can go by bus. The road to Armenia is open.” -0-