Friday, September 15 2023 14:34

ArmInfo.Today, the indigenous population of Nagorno-Karabakh  is facing an increasing  possibility of ethnic cleansing. Member and former Vice- Speaker of  the British House of Lords, sociologist, and famous human rights  activist Baroness Caroline Cox said on September 15 at a press  conference.

According to her, not a single country, not a single nation has yet  responded properly to these actions on the part of Azerbaijan, and  the UN, OSCE, NATO and Russia are also silent. No one spoke out  against Baku's claims to Stepanakert. "The question therefore arises,  what will be the reaction of the international community if Baku  officially puts forward its territorial claims to Yerevan, Sevan, and  Syunik?" asked the Baroness, adding that the political leadership of  Azerbaijan does not hide its intentions to seize all of Armenia.

The Baroness stated that if Artsakh falls, Armenia will also fall.

"At a time when democracy around the world is experiencing a period  of retreat, I, like many others, are deeply concerned by the behavior  of the superpowers putting pressure on the Republic of Armenia to  accept the demands of the Azerbaijani authorities regarding Artsakh,"  the Baroness said. She noted that with the signing of the peace  treaty, Artsakh will actually be deprived of its international right  to self-determination, as a result of which 120 thousand people will  become citizens of an authoritarian anti-Armenian state. <It is known  that the Aliyev family is associated with a long history of human  rights violations, including against the residents of Azerbaijan.  They are exerting large-scale pressure on their citizens, introducing  restrictions on freedom of speech and the media, and holding  rallies," Baroness Cox said.

Touching upon previous wars, the Baroness noted <I myself witnessed  the massacres and forced displacements.

Then the Armenians of Artsakh asked the international community for  help, but it chose to remain silent, contributing to the growth of  the appetites of the Azerbaijani authorities. In 2020, Azerbaijan,  with Turkish assistance, renewed its attempts to take over Artsakh,  shelling schools and hospitals and destroying places of religious  worship. Armenian prisoners were subjected to abuse and torture, many  of them were killed. Dozens of people continue to remain in captivity  in Azerbaijan, which violates the terms of the ceasefire agreement.  Moreover, the armed forces of Azerbaijan have advanced deep into the  sovereign territory of Armenia.

We visited the Tegh community in the Syunisk region of Armenia, where  we held meetings with soldiers of the Armenian Armed Forces, where we  were convinced that out of 7 settlements in the community, 3 were  attacked. As a result of this aggression, Armenia lost 125 hectares  of agricultural land, as well as arable land and pastures. The local  population lives in an environment of fear every day. We also visited  the upper section of the Lachin corridor, where we witnessed the  accumulation of a large number of cargo trucks that are not able to  deliver humanitarian cargo to the population of Artsakh. We saw an  illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint, through which it is impossible to  deliver vital goods for the population of Nagorno-Karabakh," the  Baroness stated, repeating that if Artsakh falls, Armenia will also  fall.