ArmInfo. As a result of the blockade, today Artsakh is at the epicenter of a humanitarian catastrophe, which manifests itself in all spheres of life - from food to healthcare, from agriculture to education. Human deaths have already been reported, from newborns to the elderly suffering from chronic diseases, Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan stated at a press conference attended by about 100 international media outlets.
"Azerbaijan, in the conditions of international impunity, constantly hardens its position towards the people of Artsakh with open purpose of carrying out ethnic cleansing based on the policy of national hatred and discrimination. During this time, the International Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights accepted legally and politically binding solutions to ensure uninterrupted two-way traffic of people, vehicles and goods through the Kashatagh (Lachin) corridor. In addition, the European Parliament, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the legislative and executive bodies of various states, authoritative international human rights organizations made clear demands and calls on the Azerbaijani authorities to end the blockade of Artsakh and refrain from using force or threatening to use it. However, Azerbaijan not only ignores the court decisions and the demands of the international community, but also expands and deepens the blockade more and more using military threats," Harutyunyan said.
The President of Artsakh stressed that Azerbaijan pursues a number of goals, including getting rid of the people of Artsakh by carrying out a complete ethnic cleansing and closing the page of the conflict by force. "To solve this problem, Baku is trying to forcibly subjugate the people of Artsakh, destroy the Republic of Artsakh and its resistance systems, push the people of Artsakh to emigrate, ruin its economy, obtain additional means of pressure on Armenia, in particular, in order to obtain an extraterritorial road between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan through the territory of Armenia," he said.
The President of Artsakh added that Azerbaijan exposes the people of the republic to psychological terror. By establishing constant control over entry and exit from Artsakh, he is trying to create unbearable conditions for living in the republic, to check and cross the "red lines" of the Armenian sides, to discredit international and regional guarantees of security and stability.
Arayik Haryunyyan noted that in its policy, Baku blocks the movement of people, vehicles and goods, violates infrastructures, including electricity, gas, water supply and communications, carries out frequent attacks and commits provocations, including against civilians doing agricultural work. According to him, an information blockade is also being carried out with the spread of disinformation and fake news, blocking the access of international missions, journalists and humanitarian fact-finding organizations.
"As a result of the blockade, there is an acute shortage of food, since before the blockade, about 90% of the food consumed in Artsakh was imported from Armenia. For 40 days, not a single kilogram of food was received in Artsakh, and the lack of fuel and other necessary materials greatly affected the limited local production and its supply. Due to the almost complete lack of fuel and other necessary materials and supplies, 80% of agricultural work has not been completed, even grain harvesting is organized in a very partial volume, even partially operating during the blockade, economic enterprises have been stopped, public transport has been almost completely stopped, health services and other essential services are working with great difficulty.Various medicines in the healthcare system have been used up, the rest have reached their limit, endangering people's lives and health, the number of deaths and complications among newborns has doubled, anemia among pregnant women has reached 90%, all routine examinations and operations have been stopped, hundreds of patients cannot travel to Armenia and abroad for treatment, important medical equipment has failed due to power cuts and lack of necessary maintenance," Arayik Harutyunyan stressed.
He added that due to problems with heating and food, schools and kindergartens were completely or partially closed, due to psychological terror and malnutrition, the susceptibility and academic performance of children were greatly affected, hundreds of students are unable to travel to Armenia and abroad to continue their education.
"196 days have passed since Azerbaijan interrupted the supply of electricity from Armenia to Artsakh, as a result of which blackouts occur daily for at least six hours, and many economic enterprises stopped working. Gas supply has been completely stopped for 158 days, which has led to many social and economic consequences. In the private sector, all factories were closed, all service enterprises, more than 80% of private sector workers became unemployed, which is more than 15,000 people, construction was stopped 3,700 apartments planned for families displaced by the war of 2020. Direct losses to the economy were about $430 million, about 50% of projected annual GDP.
Azerbaijan deliberately creates such conditions for the life of the people of Artsakh, which are aimed at the complete or partial destruction of their people. International law qualifies such a policy as genocide and obliges all states of the international community to take measures to prevent the crime of genocide. Azerbaijan's statements that the Artsakh issue is its internal affair are reminiscent of the justifications of the leadership of Nazi Germany during the Nuremberg trials, when the massacres were also called internal affairs. The civilized international community has not accepted such excuses and has rejected the existence of a right to massive violations of human rights under the pretext of internal affairs. The delay in decisive action by the international community is bringing the point of no return closer by the day.
The Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict cannot be considered resolved until the main political issues are resolved, that is, issues related to the security and rights of the people of Artsakh, including the recognition and protection of the right to self-determination. At the same time, I consider it necessary to emphasize that the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict must be resolved through negotiations. The Republic of Artsakh has always been open to negotiations with Azerbaijan in order to achieve a balanced, fair and dignified settlement of the conflict. We presume that the talks should take place within the framework of an agreed international format endowed with an appropriate mandate. This will ensure the active participation of the international community in the negotiation process and its legitimacy. Negotiations should be based on the sincere desire of both parties to resolve differences in good faith. It should not be demonstrative in order to impose the will of one side on the other. As part of the negotiation process, the international community must ensure that force or the threat of force is not used. There is also a need for effective mechanisms of international guarantees that will ensure the fulfillment of the obligations assumed by the parties. It is imperative that the parties refrain from using unilateral coercive measures, including political, military and any other means of coercion. The goal of negotiations should not be legalization or the imposition of ultimatums, but the creation of an atmosphere of cooperation. The transport and energy blockade of Artsakh must be immediately and unconditionally terminated in accordance with the decisions of international courts. Ending the blockade and alleviating the suffering of the people will create the necessary minimum prerequisites for the start of negotiations and create more favorable conditions for meaningful negotiations. The norms of international law and universal values such as justice, dignity and equality must be the basis of the negotiation process. Any artificial boundaries that could predetermine the outcome of the negotiations should be eliminated. It is important to emphasize that one of the key issues of the peace process was and remains the issue of the status of Artsakh, which, from the point of view of international law, remains unresolved. The right of our people to self-determination and the need to prevent genocide constitute the indisputable basis for securing and recognizing self- determination based on the concept of "separation for the sake of salvation".
Given the current difficult situation and the growing threats to the physical existence of our people, today I declare Artsakh a disaster zone, awaiting an urgent international response and security, political and humanitarian support from the international community, collectively and individually. Artsakh is now the only territory in the world that is in complete isolation and blockade, without any humanitarian aid and international presence. Even if there is no urgent international support in the conditions of declaring a disaster zone, Artsakh can be safely considered a concentration camp with all the ensuing consequences. I sent letters to the presidents of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair countries, which are also permanent members of the UN Security Council, as well as to UN agencies, describing in detail the humanitarian situation in Artsakh and demanding that measures be taken to adequately respond to the situation. The time has come to take unilateral action as a last resort to prevent mass crime. We have demands from the parties to the tripartite declaration of November 9, and especially from Russia, to fulfill the obligations of a security guarantor, and from Armenia to refrain from any statements and actions to recognize Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, respecting the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination.
We demand that the UN Security Council, within its mandate and obligations, take decisive steps to prevent Azerbaijan's policy of genocide and ensure the implementation of the decisions of the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights on the opening of the Kashatagh corridor. In this regard, I consider it urgent to involve the United Nations, its entire system and bodies specially authorized to act in situations of humanitarian crises. I demand that the UN Secretary General show moral and political responsibility and leadership in order to warn the international community about the plight of the people of Artsakh. I demand that Guterres immediately and without hesitation mobilize the UN system to resolve this crisis. I am ready to personally present the humanitarian situation in Artsakh to the UN Secretary General in an online format. I demand that the UN Under-Secretaries-General for Humanitarian Affairs and for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs act urgently. Speak out about the crisis in Artsakh and demand from the international community immediate efforts to provide a mandate for the entry and presence of the UN in Artsakh.
I demand that the executive directors of UNICEF, the UN World Food Programme, the United Nations Population Fund, the Director General of the World Health Organization follow their mandate and duties, demand their presence in Artsakh to provide immediate and permanent assistance to the people of Artsakh. We demand from the parties involved to stop supporting the criminal agenda of Azerbaijan, which only exacerbates the suffering of innocent people, and call for the implementation of concrete steps to guarantee a favorable environment for the stable security of the people of Artsakh and a peaceful and just settlement of the conflict.
Today, the prevention of genocide and other mass crimes is a commitment made by the international community. It is inadmissible that the obligation to prevent genocide is expressed only in the readiness to put the parties to the negotiating table. The international community, and first of all the UN Security Council, whose members are also the three co-chairing countries of the OSCE Minsk Group and which is responsible for international peace and security, including the prevention of mass crimes, has the mandate, the necessary tools and the duty to stop the policy of genocide of Azerbaijan. The impunity of Azerbaijan must be stopped, otherwise it will give rise to new and cruel crimes, on the threshold of which we are now," the President of Artsakh said.