Says There Are Disagreements with Yerevan Over Artsakh Policy

Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan warned that Baku is planning to abandon the November 9, 2020 agreement signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, and by doing so it will continue the war and aggression.

Harutyunyan said during an interview with Artsakh State Television on Sunday that Azerbaijan, is taking advantage of Russia’s war with Ukraine and is trying force Artsakh to give up its rights as cemented in the November 9, 2020 statement. He added that Baku is also attempting push its own agenda during talks with Stepanakert.

“Azerbaijan wants to abandon the trilateral statement and continue the war. This is already war, This is the continuation of the war, the aim of which is to turn Nagorno-Karabakh into a concentration camp through a siege, and then carry out genocide,” Harutyunyan said.

According to the President of Nagorno-Karabakh, one of the goals of Azerbaijan’s genocidal policy in Nagorno-Karabakh is to put pressure on Armenia to have more favorable conditions for a road through Syunik.

Harutyunyan warned of Azerbaijan’s aspirations by quoting its President Ilham Aliyev’s December 2021 remarks made before a meeting with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the European Council President Michel, when he claimed that the “Zangezur Corridor should work in the same vein as the Lachin Corridor.”

“Of course, in the beginning, we did not pay attention to it, we thought that it was a statement to put pressure on Armenia’s authorities, but later Azerbaijan emphasized that it in its policy. I can also announce today that Azerbaijan is continuing its pressure to coerce the maximum benefit. We must record that Azerbaijan wants to keep the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh hostage in some sense and simultaneously to commit genocide, by putting pressure on Armenia to get an upper hand in its pursuit of the Zangezur road,” Harutyunyan explained.

Harutyunyan said that Azerbaijan has turned Artsakh into a “major concentration camp” and is committing genocide there. “Now we already have a preliminary conclusion that this constitutes genocide,” he said.

“We have severe shortages of medicine in the healthcare sector. There are shortages of life-saving medications in pharmacies. The number of deaths resulting from various chronic illnesses continues to grow. For example, the cases of deaths from cardiovascular diseases have nearly doubled in the first half of the year. Pregnant women, children and people with chronic illnesses are the most vulnerable ones, and their health is deteriorating because of malnutrition, stress and other issues,” Harutyunyan explained.

The Artsakh President said that he declared nationwide disaster with the expectation that the international community would provide at least humanitarian support.  He noted that Armenia was first to respond and sent a humanitarian convoy, but the goods remain blocked at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor because Azerbaijan is not allowing them to go through.

Harutyunyan added that the Azerbaijani blockade has destroyed the economy and restoring it would take decades.

“We are witnessing genocide, and we are planning our steps in this regard,” he added.

The Artsakh leader also said that Yerevan’s policies regarding Karabakh have created disagreements between the two countries.

“We have quite active contacts and we wouldn’t have it any other way. We are in touch regularly —if not every day — and we discuss problems. There are disagreements and the most important disagreement is always related to the Karabakh issue,” Harutyunyan said when asked about relations with Yerevan.

The Artsakh president said that there is a mutual consensus between Yerevan and Stepanakert that Azerbaijan is committing genocide in Artsakh.

While he did not clarify the specifics of the so-called “disagreement” he did appeal to Yerevan to refrain from undermining Artsakh’s right to self-determination.

“No one has the right to question and limit our right to self-determination. It is an inherent right that was not granted by the authorities, but is internationally recognized, and in terms of that right, the people of Artsakh have expressed their willingness to fight, which is supported by the Armenian people,” Harutyunyan added.