Artsakh MFA: We call on all int`l actors to take effective steps to  prevent ethnic cleansing of Artsakh

ArmInfo.The international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh can become one of the basic  and important guarantees of preventing the genocidal policy against  the people of Artsakh. This is stated in the statement of the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh on the occasion of the 32nd  anniversary of the proclamation of the Republic.

As the press service of the NKR MFA reports, the statement reads as  follows:

"32 years ago, on September 2, 1991, a joint session of the Councils  of People's Deputies of the Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast and  the Shahumyan region proclaimed the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh.   Beginning from the day of illegal subjugation of Nagorno Karabakh to  Azerbaijan on 5 July, 2021 and throughout its stay within the  Azerbaijan SSR, the policy of apartheid and discrimination  intensified in Nagorno Karabakh, an atmosphere of hatred and  intolerance was created towards the indigenous Armenian people,  resulting in armed clashes, human losses and mass deportation of the  civilian population of Armenian villages.  To prevent the disastrous  course of events, the people of Nagorno Karabakh exercised its right  enshrined in the USSR Constitution and laws in force, specifically,  the provision of the Law of the USSR Supreme Soviet "On the secession  of the Union Republics from the USSR" dated April 3, 1990, according  to which "the peoples of the autonomous republics and autonomous  formations retain the right to independently resolve the issue of  staying in the USSR or in the seceding union republic, as well as to  raise the issue of their state- legal status".  The independence of  Nagorno Karabakh was reaffirmed by the results of the nationwide  referendum held on December 10, 1991 and the Declaration of  Independence adopted on January 6, 1992 at the first session of the  NKR Supreme Council.  Thirty years later, Azerbaijan occupied a  significant part of the territory of the Republic of Artsakh as a  result of a large-scale war it had unleashed. Aiming to achieve the  final de-Armenization of Artsakh, ignoring the provisions of the  Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, the legally binding  decisions of the International Court of Justice and the ECHR, as well  as numerous calls by the international community, Azerbaijan has been  keeping the 120-thousand population of Artsakh under total siege for  about 9 months since December 2022, depriving it of all fundamental  rights and freedoms, creating unbearable living conditions and  subjecting it to starvation.  Considering the above-mentioned facts,  as well as the constant threats against the people of Artsakh and  calls for their reprisals by the authorities of Azerbaijan, the  international recognition of the Republic of Artsakh can become one  of the basic and important guarantees of preventing the genocidal  policy against the people of Artsakh.  Expressing our gratitude to  all the Armenian sons, who fought for the right to self-  determination and freedom of the people of Artsakh, and bowing to the  memory of our heroes martyred in the three Artsakh wars, we reiterate  that Artsakh was and remains the core of the Pan-Armenian unity,  continuing the path it has chosen and fighting for our dignity.

We call upon all the international actors involved in the  Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement process to take immediate  and efficient steps to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and  deportation of its indigenous people from the homeland."