Ombudsman: Azerbaijan`s policy should be viewed as element of  Armenophobic policy aimed at ethnic cleansing of Artsakh

ArmInfo.The policy of Azerbaijan should not be viewed as an isolated act, but as an element  of the Armenophobic policy aimed at the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh  from the indigenous Armenian population. Artsakh Human Rights  Defender Gegham Stepanyan said in an interview with the Greek  topontiki. gr.

According to him, the permanent cessation of the supply of natural  gas to Artsakh is also a psychological terror that puts pressure on  the already fragile mental state of the population of Artsakh, which  survived a full-scale bloody war 2 years ago and still has not  recovered from its devastating consequences. The main motive of this  action is to create such inhuman and unbearable living conditions for  the entire population of Artsakh, so that they were eventually forced  to leave their native lands. Stepanyan added that the ICRC and the  Russian peacekeeping forces are the only international actors present  in the region. Therefore, their activities and efforts are of great  value, given the complete isolation of Artsakh. However, their  activities are limited by their mandates, which are predominantly  humanitarian in nature.

Stepanyan noted that the international community has so far limited  itself to only appeals and statements that are ineffective in  bringing about any significant change in the current situation. <In  my opinion, it is time to take concrete measures, such as restrictive  measures against the criminal dictatorship of Azerbaijan, in order to  prevent another humanitarian catastrophe or, even worse, an  irreversible crime against humanity. Tools of "soft power" do not  work in genocidal states that openly carry out (Azerbaijan) or  support (Turkey) ethnic cleansing in Artsakh.

It is disappointing that the international community is more focused  on criticizing the Russian peacekeeping mission in Artsakh than on  condemning the culprit - Azerbaijan - and calling on it to end the  blockade.

The Ombudsman stressed that over the past 2 years, Azerbaijani  officials have repeatedly threatened to occupy the rest of Artsakh  and forcibly evict the indigenous Armenian population from the region  if it refuses to become part of Azerbaijan. "I have repeatedly warned  the international community that the aggressive Armenophobic rhetoric  of the Azerbaijani authorities continues at various levels in the  post-war period with renewed vigor and is fraught with irreversible  consequences for our people. The criminal actions and terror against  Artsakh by Azerbaijan, such as the ongoing two- month blockade,  attacks on Khramort, Parukh and Karaglukh, are clear evidence of  this. In the event that Azerbaijan's shameless behavior is not  immediately condemned and punished by the international community, it  may inevitably lead to a new military attack by Azerbaijan on Artsakh  in the future, in an attempt to achieve the ultimate goal of the  Azerbaijani policy of genocide>, said the Human Rights Defender of  Artsakh.