ArmInfo.The United Homeland party chaired by Samvel Babayan issued a statement on the latest act of sabotage by Azerbaijani armed forces.
According to the statement, immediately after the terrorist act official Baku disseminated propaganda reports justifying the preplanned crime. The real goal is "demilitarizing Nagorno-Karabakh and dissolving the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army, establishing transit control of the Lachin corridor and paralyzing the domestic life in Nagorno-Karabakh."
"Considering the above, the United Homeland party states that one more terrorist act by Azerbaijan is the opposite to the solidarity it is offering the Nagorno-Karabakh people. Under the guise of 're-integration' Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing along war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Nagorno-Karabakh people.
"The review of the terrorist acts against the Artsakh people is evidence that Nagorno-Karabakh cannot renounce its inalienable right to self-defense enshrined in the U.N. Charter and its duty to defend itself from permanent threats by Azerbaijan.
"Under the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan guaranteed unobstructed movement of people and cargoes in both directions along the Berdzor (Lachin) corridor. The corridor, which links Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia, is under the control of the Russian peacekeepers. Therefore, it is not the Nagorno-Karabakh people that official Baku distrusts," the statement reads.
The Nagorno-Karabakh police officers were killed in an area recognized as an alternative road linking Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, and in the following agreement.
"Therefore, Azerbaijan's demand that the Stepanakert-Berdzor road be the only link between Nagorno- Karabakh and Armenia is unsubstantiated. On the other hand, Azerbaijan is thus going back on its own statement that the Berdzor corridor is open for free movement.
"The result of the 44-day war Azerbaijan achieved by involving international terrorists and exerting overt pressure on Russia, Armenia and the international community, can be challenged not only by means of legal and humanitarian norms, but also on the ground, but also by force of arms.
"However, Artsakh is for a peaceful settlement and proposes settling issues of mutual interest in an atmosphere of mutual confidence, by means of constructive dialogue between Stepanakert and Baku. Otherwise, by resorting to such acts of aggression, Azerbaijan will once again bring the negotiations to a deadlock, provoke a new military aggression, with the results not necessary to reflect the present-day reality," reads the statement.
Artsakh authorities reported that three police officers were killed after Azerbaijani armed forces ambushed their vehicle near an area called Khaipalu at around 10 a.m. local time Sunday.
The Artsakh Information Center released footage of the incident showing how the Azerbaijani group approached that road and the police vehicles, which was en route to Stepanakert.
After killing the police officers, the Azerbaijani troops retreat to their positions, incurring losses.
The video then shows Russian peacekeepers arriving at the site of the incident. The Azerbaijani side then retrieves the bodies of its soldiers with the mediation of the Russian side.
The killed officers were identified as Lieutenant Armen Babayan, Major David Danielyan and Lieutenant Ararat Gasparyan.
Another office, Lieutenant David Hovsepyan, received a gunshot wound in the chest and was taken to the Republican Medical Center.