On December 3, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ara Aivazian and the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia held a meeting with the Heads of the diplomatic missions and Representatives of international organizations accredited in Armenia.

Welcoming the guests, Minister Aivazian noted that the purpose of the meeting is to inform the diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia about the assessments of the Armenian side on the latest developments in the region and the steps being undertaken to address the consequences of the Turkish-Azerbaijani aggression. "The same measures have been used to change the balance of power in the South Caucasus, that have been used in the Middle East in the past - organizing a terrorist army, importing them into the conflict zones, weapons smuggling, and adding a value-based dimension to wars. Based on the above, it becomes obvious that this war, unfortunately, was inevitable, as it was highly provoked and organized by non-regional players, particularly by Turkey. And at this stage we can state that Turkey has again managed to destabilize one of its bordering regions - the South Caucasus.”

Touching upon the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in establishing the ceasefire, as well as the reaction of the international community, Minister Aivazian noted: "The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs were called upon not only to have a mandate to resolve the conflict, but also to reduce threats to regional security. From this point of view, Russia played an exceptional role, which managed to achieve the ceasefire and the deployment of peacekeepers in the conflict zone. We are grateful to France and the United States, which also made diplomatic efforts to establish a ceasefire and fairly assessed the situation. The support for peace by other countries is also important, which is reflected in their participation in humanitarian programs.

The people of Artsakh have suffered a great ordeal. Its physical existence, economic life, cultural and religious monuments, fundamental human rights were endangered. The people of Armenia have not been left out of these deprivations either, but they continue to support the people of Artsakh, including tens of thousands of displaced people” stated the Foreign Minister of Armenia.

Among the issues requiring urgent solution, Minister Aivazian emphasized the addressing of the needs of the Armenians of Artsakh in close cooperation with international partners, including the international organizations, and supporting the work being implemented in that direction. The Minister also drew the attention of foreign diplomats to the fact that due to the Azerbaijani aggression, many significant monuments of the Armenian religious and cultural heritage appeared under the Azerbaijani control. "Azerbaijan's destruction of thousands of Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan shows what the fate of Artsakh's monuments may be and from this perspective, an international control is needed."

Minister Aivazian also stressed the need to protect the rights of the people of Artsakh, including the right to self-determination. “The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is based on the use of military force by Azerbaijan against the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination, which was once again documented by the war launched on September 27. The use of force not only cannot deprive the people of Artsakh of the right to self-determination, but also justifies the need for the exercise of the right to self-determination.”

The Foreign Minister of Armenia stressed the urgency of implementing the humanitarian provisions of the trilateral statement, first of all, the exchange of hostages, the evacuation of bodies of those killed, the return of displaced people to Artsakh, considering unacceptable Azerbaijan's steps to pose artificial impediments in this regard.

In his speech, the Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan summarized his previous closed reports, particularly touching upon the numerous well documented facts of inhuman, degrading treatment of prisoners of war, as well as violations of international humanitarian law.

In his speech, the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia Arman Tatoyan noted that it is not only important to return the captured servicemen and civilians, but also ensure the return of our compatriots captured both before and after this war. In his speech, Arman Tatoyan underlined that the Azerbaijani authorities are obviously artificially delaying the return of prisoners of war, which is unacceptable. The Human Rights Defender emphasized that with the permission of the Azerbaijani authorities, the videos and photos published on the social media platform are received with great enthusiasm by the Azerbaijani society, which is a vivid manifestation of the anti-Armenian policy pursued by those authorities for decades.