Artsakh’s former human rights defender and state minister Artak Beglaryan on Wednesday began what he called an indefinite sit-in in front of the United Nations offices in Yerevan, calling on the international agency to take decisive action against Azerbaijan’s blockade of the Lachin Corridor, which entered its third day.
Beglaryan said that their demands include calling on UN agencies to condemn “Azerbaijan’s genocidal acts and blockade against the people of Artsakh.” He also said that the “UN Security Council must consider the issue of ensuring the security of the people of Artsakh by providing clear international guarantees.”
He demanded that five members of the U.N. Security Council—the U.S., Russia, France, the U.K and China—condemn Azerbaijan and “take practical steps to curb Azerbaijan.”
Beglaryan also urged Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora to not remain indifferent and call attention to Azerbaijan’s genocidal policies.
“I am starting a sit-in outside the U.N. Office in Armenia with different demands and calls, but the main demand is directed at the international community, first of all, to the U.N. so that they take concrete actions to protect the security and rights of the people of Artsakh, including to eliminate the Azerbaijani blockade at this moment, but also to ensure long-term international guarantees,” Beglaryan told reporters on Wednesday.
He said an urgent reaction to this is the obligation of the UN Security Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, adding that the United Nations is the only organization that has the capacity and mechanisms to give a concrete mandate to particular countries to carry out peacekeeping activities. The organization has an authority and obligation to protect the security and rights of different nations if they are violated.
“The blockade of Artsakh and the cutting off the gas supply is clear manifestation of Azerbaijan’s genocidal policy, which has its assessment by the international law,” Beglaryan, who currently serves as an adviser to Artsakh’s state minister said.
Beglaryan said that since the end of the 2020 war, the Russian peacekeepers had, for better or worse, ensured the security of the people of Artsakh.
“Now we have a situation where even the Russian peacekeepers are unable to eliminate the blockade and completely ensure the security. Therefore, I think that the U.N., with its Security Council, must discuss this issue and ensure serious international guarantees for our people so that we can live and create safely in our homeland,” he said.
“This is terrorism against an entire nation is not only psychological terrorism, but also terrorism from the standpoint of restricting viltal needs, which could lead to the ethnic cleansing of the Armenian population of Artsakh,” Beglaryan said. “Therefore, it’s the obligation of the UN Security Council, the High Commission for Human Rights to react very quickly, otherwise, it will be too late, and they will not be able to manage and fulfill their duties. Otherwise the people of Artsakh will have to use all of their tools to full protect their rights,” Beglaryan said.
Beglaryan was also joined at the U.N. offices by a group of protesters who vowed to support the outspoken activist in his mission.
