Spectre of 1915 Armenian genocide looms over Nagorno-Karabakh

Emil Lazarian
Radio France International
Sept 23 2023

Speaking before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva this week, Armenia’s ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan said that his country had previously warned of “looming ethnic cleansing” in Nagorno-Karabakh, stressing it was now “in progress”. For Armenians, the recent attacks in the enclave have brought back bitter memories of the 1915 genocide.

By:Jan van der MadeFollow

“This week has been a catastrophe for the South Caucasus,” says Lara Setrakian, president of the Yerevan-based think-tank Applied Policy Research Institute (APRI). 

“The military action and offensive against Nagorno-Karabakh have caused a devastating humanitarian crisis. You have many dead, wounded and missing. This is no way to conduct diplomacy,” she told RFI.

Talks between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan on integrating the breakaway territory were held on Thursday, after fighters from the Nagorno-Karabakh region – home to some 120,000 ethnic Armenians – agreed to lay down their arms in a ceasefire deal.

Images distributed by Azerbaijan’s state media showed the Armenian separatist delegation sitting around a table with negotiators dispatched by Baku to resolve the decades-long dispute over the breakaway mountainous territory.

According to a dispatch by Azeri news portal Azadliq, the “anti-terrorist operation has been suspended” as long as “units of the Armenian armed forces and illegal Armenian armed units located in the Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan lay down their weapons, leave their combat positions and military posts and are completely disarmed”.

“We were hoping for peaceful and genuine negotiations between Baku and the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh … and now they are essentially being bombarded and starved into submission,” says Setrakian.

The peace talks followed “three extremely brutal days in Nagorno-Karabakh and it is simply a negotiation by force,” she added.

“People are desperate and they’re being driven out of their homes. They have no choice. So what happens next is apparently in the hands of Baku because it is willing to exert force at every turn to get what it wants.”

Following Baku’s recent claims that Nagorno-Karabakh is now fully under Azerbaijani control, many people took to the streets in the Armenian capital Yerevan earlier this week deeming the Armenian government had capitulated.

But Setrakian doesn’t agree.

“I don’t think the government of Armenia could have done more. They were negotiating in good faith. They thought that the government of Azerbaijan was serious about peace talks,” she says.

The assault, earlier this week, came as a complete surprise. “Five days before it began, the US State Department said it would be absolutely unacceptable for Azerbaijan to use force against this population.”

Despite that, there was prolonged bombardment, reports of gunfire and even ground movement of Azerbaijani troops into Nagorno-Karabakh, with dozens of people killed, hundreds wounded and thousands displaced.

Armenia’s Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinyan, “is now caught in a very bad position,” says Setrakian. “He had invested a lot in the peace process and this doesn’t convince anyone in Armenia that that was a good idea.”

Today’s situation is a replay of a conflict that goes back more than a hundred years. The enclave, with a majority Christian Armenian population, is separated from Armenia proper by high mountain ranges and only reachable via a narrow pass – the Lachin Corridor – but easily accessible from mainly Muslim Azerbaijan.

Research by scholar Arsène Saparov found that when the regions of the “South Caucasus” – Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia – were incorporated in the newly created USSR as “Socialist Republics” in the 1920s, the Bolsheviks just granted Nagorno-Karabakh “autonomy” instead of attaching it to Armenia to avoid antagonising Azeri sentiments.

Under Soviet rule from 1921 to 1989, the area lived in relative peace, but when the USSR started to fall apart, hostilities flared up with a brutal, six-year war starting in 1988 which cost the lives to some 25,000 people.

According to Human Rights Watch, both sides were guilty of extreme atrocities. In 1994 a stalemate resulted in a fragile peace guarded by international peacekeepers, but hostilities broke out again in 2020.

That war ended with a Moscow-brokered ceasefire. A Russian force of 1,960 military personnel and 90 armoured personnel carriers was deployed in the enclave to keep the peace, with a renewable, five-year mandate.

That deal, says Setrakian, “was essentially thrown out the window this week” by Azerbaijan, and the Russian peacekeepers were powerless.

“Since the start of the Ukraine war, Russia has simply been unable to maintain that position and unable to keep the peace,” she says. As a result of western sanctions imposed following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has become increasingly dependent on Turkey and Azerbaijan “for various economic interests and energy exports”. 

At the same time, Armenians are highly suspicious of Baku’s talk of “integration” of the “Artsakh” population into an Azeri-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh. “They [Azerbaijan authorities] say that they want to integrate Armenians as citizens and live in peace. But in fact, Azerbaijan has made life miserable, unliveable for Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Children are hungry, civilians have died, people are trying to evacuate, and the routes are blocked. It is a crisis, a true humanitarian crisis.

“Now if we start to see many of them going, this will be evidence of ethnic cleansing. Genocide, ethnic cleansing by some definition is happening now,” Setrakian underlines.

INTERVIEW: Lara Setrakian, President APRI Armenia in Yerevan

Now if we start to see many of them going, this will be evidence of ethnic cleansing. So in many respects, genocide, ethnic cleansing by some definition is happening now.

07:10

Interview with Lara Setrakian President APRI Armenia in Yerevan

Jan van der Made

 

In August this year, a hard-hitting “expert opinion” by former ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, claimed that by isolating the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave and using “starvation” as a weapon, Azerbaijan may be guilty of genocide.

Quoting the UN Genocide Convention, Ocampo said that “the blockade of the Lachin Corridor by the Azerbaijani security forces impeding access to any food, medical supplies, and other essentials, should be considered a Genocide,” since Baku is “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction”.

“Starvation as a method to destroy people was neglected by the entire international community when it was used against Armenians in 1915, Jews and Poles in 1939, Russians in Leningrad in 1941, and Cambodians in 1975-1976.

“Starvation was also used in Srebrenica in the winter of 1993-1994,” Ocampo wrote. 

Last Thursday, the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said in a statement that “while a ceasefire has been concluded, FIDH remains concerned that there is a real risk of genocide of ethnic Armenians in areas coming under Azerbaijan’s effective control”.

The fact that Turkey presents itself as the main backer of Azeri aggression may strengthen painful memories of the 1915 Armenian genocide – still officially denied by Ankara – where an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed by the Ottoman empire.

The events are commemorated by an impressive monument overlooking Yerevan today.

“I think this is very much the legacy of genocide that Armenians feel is being perpetuated now,” says Setrakian. 

French concerns

France houses some 750,000 members of the Armenian diaspora – the world’s third largest Armenian community after Russia and the US – and takes a special interest in the developments in Nagorno-Karabakh. At the ongoing session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna called the Nagorno-Karabakh situation “illegal, unjustifiable and unacceptable,” while French President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Late August, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo led a group of French politicians in a humanitarian mission with the International Red Cross to the Nagorno-Karabakh border in an attempt to bring relief goods to the isolated enclave.

https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20230923-spectre-of-1915-armenian-genocide-looms-over-nagorno-karabakh-lara-setrakian

ICRC teams in Nagorno Karabakh start registering people who are looking for loved ones

Antonian Lara

 13:20,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. ICRC teams in Nagorno-Karabakh have started registering people who are looking for unaccompanied children or who otherwise lost contact with loved ones. Residents have also approached the ICRC to help evacuate the bodies of deceased relatives, the ICRC said in a press release.

Nine people wounded in the recent hostilities were evacuated by a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Friday.

“Though a cease-fire was declared on September 20, the humanitarian consequences of the military escalation are still felt across the region. Communities have been displaced, relatives have lost contact with each other, and information indicates that people wounded during the hostilities still need assistance.

“On 18 September, the ICRC for the first time organized a simultaneous delivery of much-needed shipments of wheat flour and essential medical items via the Lachin corridor and Aghdam road. Since then, the ICRC has carried out the following humanitarian work:

  • Medical supplies were donated to military and civilian hospitals, including new donations on Friday.
  • 28,000 diapers were distributed for children this week.
  • 200 warm blankets were donated to a shelter housing internally displaced people.
  • 1,000 litres of diesel were donated to the biggest medical center to be used for generators to ensure their operational capacity.
  • 500 litres of diesel were donated to the Water Board serving the biggest populated area to power generators providing water to the town.

“ICRC teams have also started registering people who are looking for unaccompanied children or who otherwise lost contact with loved ones. Residents have also approached the ICRC to help evacuate the bodies of deceased relatives.

“The humanitarian situation in the region has been dire in recent months due to the restricted ability to move goods to areas in need. Basic commodities have been hard to find and access to health care has been extremely limited,” the ICRC said.

The ICRC plans to increase its emergency response and is negotiating with the decision makers on the deliveries of food and hygiene items.

Special Adviser of UN Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide alarmed over military escalation by Azerbaijan

Bedik Zaminian

 13:32,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Special Adviser of the UN Secretary- General on the Prevention of Genocide, Alice Wairimu Nderitu, expressed her alarm over the recent military escalation by Azerbaijan, noted the reported ceasefire announced on 20 September and emphasized the importance of preventing further violence and of ensuring a durable peace in the region that protects the rights of all people.

“Military action can only contribute to escalate what is already a tense situation and to put the civilian population in the area at risk of violence, including risk of genocide and related atrocity crimes. All efforts need to be made to prevent violence and sustain peace,” the Special Adviser stressed in a statement.

Special Adviser Wairimu Nderitu reiterated her call for dialogue and peace, and the call to avoid any escalation of tension, made during her briefing to the 53rd session of the Human Rights Council on 4 July this year, and emphasized the impact of violence on innocent and vulnerable civilians.

“Previous instances of military escalation in the region have had significant negative impact on civilian populations; and there have also been reports of civilian casualties from the recent escalation. The region has further seen frequent reports of hate and divisive narratives being used, fuelling tension. Violence and hatred reinforce each other. We must stop this vicious cycle and work to build a future in which hatred and division are no longer present. I urge all parties to promote constructive dialogue and negotiations in full respect of international humanitarian and human rights law.”

The Special Adviser also expressed concern that these developments are happening despite the recent progress in ensuring humanitarian assistance to the area, including through the Lachin corridor. The Special Adviser recalled the 22 February 2023 Order of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which was reaffirmed by the Court on 6 July 2023, indicating provisional measures in the case concerning the Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (Armenia v Azerbaijan). She also echoed calls made by the United Nations Secretary-General on 24 February and 3 August 2023, noting that decisions of the ICJ are binding on the Parties. The Special Adviser expressed the importance that they be fully implemented, including the Order to take all measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. This message she had previously reiterated, including at the 28 April 2023 event organized by the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations on ‘Prevention of Atrocity Crimes in the Digital Era’. “The fact that some humanitarian assistance has been able to reach the population in the area constitutes a positive step which needs to be continued, in line with international humanitarian law. This was an important step forward which requires building upon. All people deserve to live a life free from hatred, insecurity, hunger, and conflict.”

Nagorno-Karabakh denies reports claiming Azeri troops entered Stepanakert

Chalian Meline

 13:36,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The reports circulating online claiming that the Azerbaijani troops have entered Stepanakert are untrue, the Nagorno-Karabakh official InfoCenter said in a statement.

“After the Azerbaijani ceasefire violation on September 21 in the outskirts of Stepanakert, Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in the outskirts of the city, including in Krkzhan district, in order to avoid further tensions. Please do not submit to comments causing panic and follow only official information. The Artsakh InfoCenter is regularly providing information about the situation and the steps taken by the government,” the InfoCenter added.

Azerbaijan conducts information terror against people of Nagorno-Karabakh with terrifying threats to rape and kill

Hovik Karapetian

 15:23,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Azeri telegram channels are distributing photos of missing civilians in Nagorno-Karabakh and making death threats, the Nagorno-Karabakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan said on X.

“The Office of the Human Rights Defender is receiving multiple terrifying reports about Azerbaijani information terror actively conducted against the civilian population of Artsakh. Azerbaijani telegram channels encourage people to find, kill, torture, and rape the missing persons of Artsakh, even offering money for that. Many relatives of the missing people, who are already in a vulnerable psychological state, complain about Azerbaijan terrorising and threatening them by calls and text messages. This is yet another _expression_ of Armenophobia and ethnic hatred, which only proves that the civilian population will not have any security guarantees if it is placed under the control of Azerbaijan,” Stepanyan posted on X.

Demonstrators in Berlin call on EU leaders to intervene and stop Azeri genocidal actions in Nagorno-Karabakh

Maral Chavushian

 16:42,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. A demonstration was held September 23 outside the Bundestag in Berlin, Germany, demanding the German government and EU leaders to intervene and stop Azerbaijan’s genocidal actions against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The demonstration was organized by the Armenian community. A group of German politicians, students and representatives of various organizations joined the demonstration.

Lilit Kocharyan, the organizer of the protest, said, “Your participation is highly important to show that we are demanding justice for the people of Artsakh who are now suffering. People in Artsakh are trapped, there’s no contact with them, we don’t know what’s happening with the people, whether they are still alive.”

Presenting the dire situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, where there is no food, medication or other essential supplies, Kocharyan said that the people of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) are being subjected to genocide.

The demonstrators said they expect EU leaders to take effective and urgent measures to stop the Armenian genocide.

“No action has been taken, only statements addressed to Azerbaijan are being made, we need urgent steps,” she said.

The protesters were holding posters saying “Save Artsakh”, “Stop Aliyev Regime”, “Stop the Azeri aggression”, “ Stop the Ethnic Cleansing Against Armenians of Artsakh,” and others.

Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issues second SOS alert for Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh

Eduard Nalbandian

 17:38,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has issued a second SOS alert for Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) who are in critical danger of genocide by Azerbaijan.

Below is the full statement issued by the Lemkin Institute.

“The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention is issuing a second SOS alert for the Armenians of Artsakh, who are currently under the yoke of the armed forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan and are in critical danger of genocide.

“Following a series of airstrikes, drone attacks, and the mass shelling of civilian-inhabited areas by Azerbaijan on September 20th and 21st, the terrified residents of Artsakh are finding themselves hostages of the Azerbaijani military with no exit routes that would allow them to flee the enclave.

“At this moment in time, conditions on the ground are unclear. Azerbaijan has cut all electricity, natural gas, and telecommunication services (telephone, internet) in Artsakh.

“There are unconfirmed reports of atrocities and massacres. Azerbaijani social media channels have openly threatened civilians with abuse, ranging from bounties on missing children to images and reports of massacres of residents who refused to leave their homes, leading to frantic civilian efforts to evacuate ahead of the arrival of the Azerbaijani military.

“A meeting of the United Nations Security Council on September 21st, 2023, reached no consensus. No action was taken by the Security Council to address the ongoing, constantly changing crisis.

“The Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention urges the international community to act immediately to help ensure the safety of the people of Artsakh, including both civilians and disarmed members of the Artsakh Defense Army—who have committed no crime and must be given unhindered access to exit routes along with the civilian population in full accordance with Azerbaijan’s obligations under international humanitarian law.

“Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has stated that he is “only” targeting what he calls the “criminal junta” of the democratic government of the Republic of Artsakh. The government of Artsakh is an elected body that has committed no crime. Azerbaijan likewise claims that soldiers in the Artsakh Defense Army and the noncombatant general population of Artsakh (often extending to the Armenian world population as a whole), are “terrorists” and “illegal separatists.” These claims are false and are belied by the history of the region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“There is a high probability that any former members of the democratically-elected Artsakh government and the Artsakh Defense Army who fall into Azerbaijani hands will be brutally abused, tortured, and murdered. Azerbaijan has committed atrocities against almost all Armenian civilians and POWs it has captured in the wars of 2016, 2020 and 2022. There is no reason that its forces would behave differently in 2023. Imbued with genocidal Armenophobia, the Azerbaijani military has not prosecuted any members within its ranks who have committed atrocities motivated by this form of ethnic hatred. There are no indications that this will change in the future.

“The international community should insist that all members of the Armenian population of Artsakh are protected and given unrestricted access to exit corridors. Given the vulnerability of men and older boys at the hands of the Azerbaijani military, there is no case in which they should be separated from women and children. We strongly urge Artsakh women and children to refuse to be separated from men and older boys.

“The Lemkin Institute is horrified by what the world has allowed to happen to the Armenians of Artsakh, despite years of warnings from almost all genocide prevention experts and NGOs who foresaw the disaster taking place amid the willful blindness of the international community. We are committed to not only bearing witness to the mass atrocities currently taking place in Artsakh, in which many world leaders and powerful stakeholders are complicit, but also ensuring that Artsakh’s population receives justice for the mass atrocities taking place in the South Caucasus.”

Power supply restored only in Martakert so far

Greg Madatian

 17:47,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Power supply in Martakert has been restored, reporter Lusine Zakaryan told ARMENPRESS by phone from the town in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Meanwhile, the town of Askeran still has no power supply, the local regional administration’s spokesperson Anahit Petrosyan said.

Power supply in Stepanakert hasn’t been restored either.

Gayane Gevorgyan, a woman living in Stepanakert, said that the residents have set up stoves in the streets to cook food.  “We’ve been managing to somehow charge our phones using car batteries to be able to maintain contact with one another. We are waiting with hope,” Gevorgyan said.

Armenpress: Chancellor of Germany emphasizes importance of respecting Armenia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty

Talar Tumanian

 18:06,

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, during their September 22 phone call, spoke about the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the issue of supplying urgent humanitarian aid for the locals, including through Lachin Corridor, the German government said in its readout.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the use of military force and emphasized that the German federal government is resolutely committed to a negotiated solution and sustainable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan. He also expressed full support to the efforts of President of the European Council Charles Michel.

The German Chancellor said that the rights and security of the population of Karabakh must be guaranteed for a sustainable resolution to the conflict.

“Transparent humanitarian supplies and security for the people in Karabakh is now Azerbaijan’s responsibility,” the German government said in the readout.

The German Chancellor also emphasized the importance of respecting Armenia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Prime Minister Pashinyan and Chancellor Scholz agreed to maintain close contacts.

Asbarez: Armenia Urges UN Security Council to Prevent Ethnic Cleansing in Artsakh, Deploy Peacekeepers

Emil Lazarian
by Asbarez Staff

 

 

 

in Armenia, Artsakh, Featured Story, Latest, News, Top Stories

Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan addresses the UN Security Council on Sep. 21


Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan on Thursday urged the United Nations Security Council to act and prevent ethnic cleansing in Artsakh and send UN-mandated peacekeepers there to maintain the security and stability.

Mirzoyan was speaking at a special session of the UN Security Council, which was called at the initiative of France, to address the large-scale military attack on Artsakh on Tuesday.

The majority of diplomats representing member states, including the United States, France, Germany and others, condemned Baku for its brazen attacks against the population of Artsakh and called on Baku to immediately reopen the Lachin Corridor and unlock access of humanitarian assistance to the people of Artsakh.

Also speaking that special Security Council session was the European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, who warned Baku against the forced displacement of the Armenian population in Artsakh.

In his address, Mirzoyan said that the intensity and cruelty of the Azerbaijani attack against Nagorno-Karabakh makes it clear that Azerbaijan’s intention is to complete the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Below is the complete text of Mirzoyan’s statement.

[SEE VIDEO]

Mr. President,
Distinguished colleagues,

I thank the Security Council for convening this urgent meeting to discuss the security and humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh stemming from unprovoked and well-planned military attack by Azerbaijan.

While the UN General Assembly’s session is underway and all the members of international community are gathered here to look for ways to maintain peace and security worldwide, while we all speak about the imperative to condemn use of force, prevent further loss of human lives caused by man-made disasters, while each of us comes here to contribute to peace, in our region in South Caucasus on 19th September Azerbaijan unleashed yet another large-scale offensive against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, in blatant violation of the international law and Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020. Literally the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, Stepanakert and other cities and settlements came under intense and indiscriminate shelling with use of missiles, heavy artillery, combat UAVs and aviation, including prohibited cluster munition. The intensity and cruelty of the offensive makes it clear that the intention is to finalize ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Outcomes of this large-scale military operation clearly reveal their atrocious nature. Yet they are very preliminary as due to the targeted attacks against critical infrastructure, such as electricity stations, telephone cables and  stations and internet equipment, the population is completely cut-off from each other and is deprived of the possibility to present the real-time situation on the ground. Also, Azerbaijani troops control main roads in Nagorno-Karabakh which makes it impossible to visit and get information on the ground. 

For the time being there are confirmed cases of more than 200 killed and 400 wounded, including among civilian population, women and children, also accepted today by the
Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs. More than ten thousand persons became forcibly displaced, including women, children, and elderly, who stay in the open air, without food and other means for subsistence. Thousands of families have been separated. Add to this around twenty thousand displaced persons from the 2020 war to see that there are enormous humanitarian needs on the ground.

People are still starving due to the severe shortages of food imposed by the ongoing 10-month blockade.

The healthcare system has been paralyzed. Hospitals have no electricity and are in a critical shortage of medicine. People are deprived of the opportunity to receive even first aid. Without fuel, ambulances cannot operate to take the wounded to hospitals.

The images coming from Nagorno-Karabakh are truly shocking: women, children, elderly people left without shelter and food, moms desperately trying to find their lost children, wives crying from fear that Azerbaijan may imprison their husbands. It’s hard to believe that all this is happening not a hundred years ago but today in front of the international community in the 21st century. The social media is full of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh searching for their children or relatives. The children that suddenly appeared to stay in shelters or even streets continue crying and asking their parents to take them home, refusing to recognize that they do not have a home anymore. During the shelling an eight-year boy has gone missing in one of the settlements of Nagorno-Karabakh, his brother ten years old was killed and his body has not been even possible to take out from the village. The other brother was injured. These are only examples of numerous cases. In the eyes of Azerbaijan these children are terrorists, and Azerbaijan’s actions, missiles, armored vehicles, artillery and UAVs were directed against those children, their parents and grandparents. 

The Azerbaijani social media segment is full of calls to find the missing children and women, to rape them, dismember and feed them to dogs. Azerbaijani users are sharing the profiles of Armenian women from Nagorno-Karabakh on social media making biddings on who will get those women to rape, when they are taken under Azerbaijani custody.

Colleagues, 
This was feasible, the clear signs were there. We have been alarming for a long time now. The international community refused to take it seriously enough. 

The current aggression came as a culmination of a 10-months-long blockade of the Lachin corridor and forced starvation imposed on the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. Severe shortage of food, medicine, fuel, natural gas, electricity and other essential goods had already brought the vulnerable people of Nagorno-Karabakh to the brink of humanitarian catastrophe. One should be naive to think that this was not precisely thought through ever since or even before the institutionalization of the inhumane blockade with the aim of bringing down the will and ability of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh to resist and maintain their lives and livelihood in their ancestral homeland. The Azerbaijani aggression that unfolded with explicit barbarity and deliberate targeting of civilian populations and infrastructure was the final act of this tragedy aimed at the forced exodus of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh.

  • When the International Court of Justice on February 22 and July 6, 2023, adopted legally binding orders and they were disrespected by Azerbaijan- this Council as an august body meant to ensure the implementation of ICJ orders failed to react adequately,
  • When Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin cCorridor and we called for urgent meeting of the UNSC in December 2022 – this Council failed to react adequately, 
  • When in April Azerbaijan installed illegal check-point in the Lachin cCorridor and later started to kidnap people, including ones under the protection of international humanitarian law,- international community failed to undertake adequate measures,
  • When Armenia called again for another UNSC urgent session in August 2023 – warning about the fragile security and humanitarian situation and calling the Council to use its toolbox to address all the issues and not let people of Nagorno-Karabakh behind, this Council failed to react adequately,

During the days prior to September 19’s Azerbaijani aggression when Armenia was raising alarm about feasible use of force by Azerbaijan and seeking for concrete measures and actions to prevent this scenario – international community reacted to our warning with skepticism.

Now when Azerbaijan has already restarted to use force against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, when these this people are forcefully deported from their houses and are at danger to be forcefully deported from their homeland, when many who have been defending their families and their right to live in freedom and dignity in their homeland for the last 30 years are at danger of mass arrests and prosecution, when we have a situation where there is not an intent any more, but clear and irrefutable evidences of policy of ethnic cleansing and mass atrocities – the Security Council of the United Nations must act.

Despite accepting all demands of the Azerbaijani side in order to stop the bloodshed and ongoing talks today, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh were again subjected to attacks using different caliber weapons and mortars, thus forcing the civilians once again to seek shelter in the basements. We believe such attacks and further persecutions will continue unless there is a clear international action. 

By the way, regarding the mentioned demands, I would like to state very clearly and unequivocally that the Republic of Armenia was not part of those discussions and we resolutely reiterate that the claims and references to the presence of any military personnel of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh do not correspond to reality. 
In this attempt we clearly see the intention of some actors to involve the Republic of Armenia in military actions thus transferring the hostilities into our sovereign territories. The position of Armenia firmly remains the same: we should establish peaceful relations based on mutual recognition of sovereignty and territorial integrity, which certainly cannot be anyhow misinterpreted and used as a license for mass atrocities, including ethnic cleansings in Nagorno-Karabakh. The rights and security of the Armenian people of Nagorno-Karabakh must be properly addressed and internationally guaranteed.

There is also another very important aspect regarding the parties involved. As I noted some of you in your statements still make general calls to the sides of conflict. This approach and this terminology are not relevant any more. There are no more sides of the conflict but perpetrators and victims. There is no more conflict but a real danger of atrocity crime. Is it still possible to prevent it now? We are here because we believe so. Because we still believe in humanity, in international law and in the ability of the Security Council to act decisively when lives of thousands are at stake.

Mr. President, 
Against this backdrop, time and again, I appeal to the Security Council to demonstrate its credibility and reputation by undertaking the following urgent measures:

  • To condemn the resumption of hostilities and targeting of civilian settlements and infrastructure,
  • To demand full compliance with obligations under the international humanitarian law, including those related to the protection of civilians, in particular women and children, and critical civilian infrastructure;
  • To immediately deploy an interagency mission by the UN to Nagorno-Karabakh with the aim to monitor and assess the human rights, humanitarian and security situation.
  • To ensure unimpeded access of the UN agencies and other international organizations to Nagorno-Karabakh in line with the humanitarian principles.
  • To ensure full cooperation of the parties in good faith with the International Committee of the Red Cross to address the consequences of the military actions, including the removal and identification of the bodies, search and rescue of personnel missing in action, release of POWs, safe and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian assistance, in strict compliance with the international humanitarian law. 
  • To ensure the return of persons displaced in the course of the recent aggression, as well as persons and refugees displaced as a result of 2020 war, to their homes in the territory of Nagorno- Karabakh and adjacent regions under the monitoring and control of the UN relevant agencies, as it was foreseen in the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020.
  • To ensure immediate restoration of vital supplies, including food, medicine, fuel, gas and electricity.
  • To demand the immediate restoration of freedom and security of movement of persons, vehicles and cargo, along the Lachin corridor, in line with the ICJ orders.
  • To ensure a sustainable international mechanism of dialogue between representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh and official Baku to address the issues related to rights and security of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.
  • To demand exit of any Azerbaijani military and law-enforcement bodies from all civilian settlements in Nagorno-Karabakh NK to exclude panic, provocations and escalation, endangering civilian population until the results of the negotiations.
  • To exclude punitive action against Nagorno-Karabakh NK political and military representatives and personnel.
  • Create a possibility for a United Nations-mandated Peacekeeping Force to keep stability and security in Nagorno- Karabakh.

Finally, 
Mr. President,
Dear colleagues,

Let me mention that today we celebrate the Day of Independence of the Republic of Armenia and let me congratulate my compatriots on this very important and symbolic occasion. 

And I thank you.”