The Artsakh National Assembly has adopted a declaration on preventing the humanitarian catastrophe threatening the people of the Republic of Artsakh.
The declaration states, in particular:
“Violating all norms of international law, as well as the provisions of the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020 on the cessation of all military operations in Nagorno-Karabakh, yesterday, 12 December, a group of so-called environmentalists and journalists again blocked the Stepanakert-Goris highway, which continues to this hour. These provocative actions, directly organized by official Baku, are aimed at the implementation of developed plans to depopulate Artsakh and forcibly incorporate it into its composition. Since 9 November 2020, Azerbaijan, disregarding the trilateral statement it itself signed, has illegally seized numerous territories of the Republic of Artsakh, periodically shelled Armenian settlements, killed and terrorized the civilian population, in every way disrupting its normal life. The demands and actions of those presenting themselves as environmentalists are devoid of substantiated justification, since no ecological threat towards neighbouring Azerbaijani territories and their population has been recorded by the Republic of Artsakh over the past 30 years, which speaks to the Republic of Artsakh as a responsible subject that respects the norms of international law.
The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh states that this modus operandi of Azerbaijan’s military-political authorities is the crudest violation of reached agreements, international commitments, and the principles and norms of international law, which threatens Artsakh with a humanitarian crisis, bringing our entire people to the brink of genocide:
The authorities of the Republic of Armenia are obliged to undertake substantive and effective steps to restore the uninterrupted land connection between the Republic of Artsakh and the Republic of Armenia and to protect the rights of the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh.
We expect from the Russian Federation, as a party to the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020 and a guarantor of peace and stability in the region, to take immediate measures to curb Azerbaijan’s expansionist aspirations, which call into question the existence of the Armenians of Artsakh and their right to live in their homeland, as well as the authority of the Russian peacekeeping mission.
We call on international structures and UN member states to condemn Azerbaijan’s genocidal policy, and for the purpose of prevention, to urgently convene a session of the UN Security Council to apply practical measures.
We appeal to our compatriots in Armenia and the Diaspora to use all opportunities to raise the issue of the humanitarian catastrophe created by Azerbaijan in Artsakh on various platforms, to stand firm in the protection of the rights of the Armenians of Artsakh and to be ready to carry out the necessary actions in that direction:
Dear compatriots,
Our struggle is continuous, the will to live in the homeland is unbreakable:
13 December 2022
Stepanakert.”
