Artsakh is large concentration camp - Arayik Harutyunyan

ArmInfo.The situation in Artsakh has long crossed the threshold of a humanitarian catastrophe,  and today we are witnessing the genocidal policy of Azerbaijan. Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan stated this in an interview with Artsakh Public Television.

"To formulate, Artsakh is a large concentration camp where Azerbaijan  is carrying out genocide. It is no coincidence that a few days ago I  turned to the former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal  Court, Luis Moreno Ocampo, with a request to give an expert opinion.  Now we already have a preliminary conclusion that this is genocide,"  Harutyunyan said.

In this vein, the President of Artsakh drew attention to the fact  that in the Republic, against the backdrop of the current  catastrophic situation, there is a serious shortage of medicines in  the healthcare system.

"Complications and deaths from various chronic diseases continue to  grow. For example, the number of deaths from diseases of the  circulatory system almost doubled in the first half of the year.  Pregnant women, children, people with chronic diseases, whose health  is deteriorating due to malnutrition, are especially vulnerable. ,  stress and other reasons," Harutyunyan said.

Speaking about the problem of food and other goods, Arayik  Harutyunyan recalled that a few days ago the Republic of Artsakh  declared a disaster zone, counting on the international community to  provide humanitarian assistance, as is done for everyone in the event  of a natural disaster. He recalled that Armenia was the first to  react to this statement, a convoy of cars with humanitarian cargo has  been standing at the Khakari bridge for several days, and Azerbaijan  prohibits the import of these goods, essential products to the  Republic of Artsakh. He did not touch on economic problems, and the  need to pay compensation to tens of thousands of people who have lost  their source of income.

"Besides, it will take decades to restore the economy destroyed by  the blockade," the President of Artsakh noted.

To clarify why everything turned into such a disastrous situation,  the head of the NKR recalled that in 1992-1994 Artsakh fought against  Azerbaijan, and already in 2016 Azerbaijan tried to independently  resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh problem during the four-day war, failed,  but, unfortunately, the 2020 war turned out to be a different  reality.

"Turkey participated with Azerbaijan, helped a number of other  countries, there were mercenaries, and Nagorno-Karabakh was mostly  alone. Of course, Armenia helped, but the main blow fell on Artsakh.  That is why we had bad results for us, and a trilateral statement was  born dated November 9, 2020. At first, it was not accepted by  society, but following the war, it was an acceptable statement for  us, and it gave us hope that having the guarantees that we have: the  territory in the form of Nagorno-Karabakh, the line of contact,  uninterrupted communication with "Armenia - it was a foothold that  was supposed to provide us with the point of view of the struggle for  the right to self-determination in the future. What has changed? At  first we trusted this statement and began to eliminate the  consequences of the war, began to restore the economy. Most of our  compatriots returned, including our internally displaced compatriots  who linked their future with Artsakh," Arayik Harutyunyan said,  recalling again that the statements made during the numerous meetings  of the Prime Minister of Armenia, the Presidents of Azerbaijan and  the Russian Federation, the initial stage seemed to be a  demonstration that everything is being done to fulfill the assigned  items or warranties provided.

However, according to him, the situation changed after the  Russian-Ukrainian war. "Azerbaijan, taking advantage of the position  of Russia, tried to force us, so to speak, to abandon the points of  the statement, the rights granted to us, and enter into a dialogue on  the agenda they proposed. After that, we sent many requests and  letters, first of all to the head of Russia, the prime minister  Minister of Armenia, all international actors, and what is happening  today, we warned about this a year ago. A year ago, we said that  Azerbaijan had begun a genocidal policy," the President of the  Republic noted, recalling again that Azerbaijan wants to abandon the  tripartite statements and continue the war.

In his opinion, this is already a war, a continuation of the war  through a siege, and as a result, the transformation of Artsakh into  a large concentration camp, the implementation of genocide.

In this vein, Harutyunyan cited the statement of the President of  Azerbaijan, which he made before the trilateral meeting in Brussels,  during a meeting with the NATO Secretary General, stating that the  "Zangezur Corridor", according to its wording, should work in the  logic of the Lachin (Kashatagh) corridor.

"Naturally, at the first stage, we did not pay attention to this. It  was December 14, 2021. We thought that this statement was aimed at  putting pressure on the Armenian authorities, making the most of  paragraph 9 of the tripartite statement, which refers to the opening  of regional communications, thereby moreover, what was mentioned  about Nakhichevan and ties with Azerbaijan, but Azerbaijan further  emphasized the importance of this with its behavior and policies," he  said.

At the same time, the head of the NKR believes that Azerbaijan  continues its pressure in order to snatch as much as possible.  Harutyunyan stated that Azerbaijan wants to keep the Armenians of  Nagorno-Karabakh hostage, while carrying out genocide and putting  pressure on the Armenian authorities and international actors in  order to have a more favorable version of the Zangezur road.  Harutyunyan believes that this issue continues to be on the agenda.

To clarify whether he received answers to his letters sent to various  international structures, Harutyunyan stated that there was a  response, but there was no result. He recalled that back in early  July he sent a letter to the President of the Russian Federation and  said that the situation was already critical, after that there was a  trilateral meeting between Aliyev-Pashinyan-Charles Michel, and this  was followed by a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Russia  and Azerbaijan, and all forces were informed about unfolding  catastrophe, but the result is zero.

The President of Artsakh also stated that the dialogue cannot be  imposed. "It seems that there is a tacit agreement to leave us face  to face with Azerbaijan, and Baku using the pressure method: although  we have already crossed the stage of pressure, we are already on the  verge of genocide. This cannot be called a dialogue, since we are  forced to accept the conditions of Azerbaijan," - he noted, adding  that in these conditions it is impossible to talk about dialogue,  since all our possible rights have been violated.

He once again appealed to the international community to create the  proper conditions for an equal dialogue.