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The Artsakh Foreign Ministry on Friday issued a statement on the joint call of the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries. Below is the full text of the statement:

"We welcome the joint statement by the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries – Russian Federation, United States and France, strongly condemning the escalation of violence in the Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict zone and calling for an immediate end to hostilities. This statement by the leaders of the three countries - permanent members of the UN Security Council has finally consolidated the collective position of the international community on the inadmissibility of the use of force, previously expressed by all members of the UN Security Council, the UN Secretary General, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, and heads of states and governments of the European Union.

By continuing to reject the demands of the international community to restore peace in the region, Azerbaijan and Turkey are increasingly positioning themselves as rogue countries, demonstrating open rejection of generally accepted rules and norms of the civilized world.

Azerbaijan and Turkey not only persist in their unwillingness to follow the calls of the international community for an immediate ceasefire, but also consistently and deliberately increase the intensity of the hostilities. The Defence Army of Artsakh, which is now actually fighting also international terrorism, will continue to take all necessary measures to force Azerbaijan to end the hostilities, thereby contributing to international efforts to restore peace in the region. The Republic of Artsakh will continue to pursue a responsible security policy aimed at ensuring and strengthening long-term regional peace and stability.

At the same time, we believe that in a situation when Azerbaijan and Turkey enter into an open military alliance with terrorist organizations, which are outlawed by the civilized world, collective measures of the entire international community, including those of a coercive nature, are imperatively required to end the illegal acts of Ankara and Baku, which pose a threat to the entire world community.

In this regard, we once again emphasize that the international recognition of the independence of the Republic of Artsakh will not only allow the immediate end of the aggression, but also exclude the possibility of its repetition in the future. The international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh is an inevitable and logical result of the settlement process, which is not questioned by the international community, since the independence of Artsakh has strong legal, legitimate and fair basis. The sooner the process of international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh begins, the earlier the long-awaited and lasting peace will come into the region."