ArmInfo. By destroying the Armenians' property in Talish, Azerbaijan is showing its model of integration or guarantee of rights and freedoms of in Nagorno Karabakh, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan stated at a Cabinet meeting on March 23.
Azerbaijan marked the 100th day of its blockade of Lachin Corridor by cutting off the gas supply to Nagorno Karabakh for the thirteenth time, he said.
"This happened after the Azerbaijani leader's speech - which can't be described anything else than aggressive - in the village of Talish in Nagorno Karabakh, which has been subjected to ethnic cleansing. What happened in Talish village is a substantial, fundamental proof of Azerbaijan's policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide. In this village - de-populated from Armenians as a result of the 44-Day War, Azerbaijan is demolishing the homes belonging to Armenians by their right to property and is instead building homes intended for Azerbaijanis. What we've been alarming about for so long is now reality," Pashinyan said.
The PM said that by destroying the Armenians' property in Talish, removing Armenian inscriptions from ancient Armenian monuments, Azerbaijan is showing its model of integration or guarantee of rights and security of Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh.
"These actions are illegal and are explicitly contradicting clause 7 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, which says that internally displaced persons and refugees shall return to the territory of Nagorno- Karabakh and adjacent areas under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. This means that March 18th had to be marked by the Armenian population's return to Talish, instead of the act of vandalism of destroying their homes," Pashinyan said.
The Armenian PM noted that these actions by the Azeri leadership were followed by the statement released by the Armenian IDPs of Nagorno Karabakh and adjacent regions.
"As one of the addressees of this statement, I want to clearly underscore that I find their demand to be justified, and the Government of the Republic of Armenia must take all political and diplomatic measures to protect the rights of the authors and beneficiaries of the statement," Pashinyan said.
On March 16, the premier instructed Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to start negotiations with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees for the return of Armenians to the Azerbaijan-controlled territories of Nagorno-Karabakh and to the adjacent regions.