Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Monday characterized the Lachin Corridor—the only road connecting Armenia to Artsakh—as a road to prevent future genocides.
Speaking at a Global Forum Against Crimes of Genocide in Yerevan, Pashinyan warned the attendees of an impending genocide, after a group of Azerbaijanis blockaded the Lachin Corridor.
“There are consistent actions, which are further evidence that Azerbaijan is, indeed, plotting genocide in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pashinyan told the forum. “I believe all of us and the international community should take this seriously.”
“We thought that the trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020, had created mechanisms to prevent a potential genocide of Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh, but, unfortunately, more an more we continue to see incidents” that make the concerns voices by Armenians in Artsakh more valid.
Saying that the Lachin Corridor is a road to prevent another genocide, Pashinyan said that closing the corridor means that the Armenians of Artsakh are doomed to face a genocide.
He said one of scenarios was by emptying the land of its Armenian population, citing the complete capture of Artsakh’s Hadrut region in 2020 as an example.
“The November 9, 2020 statement ensures the return of refugees to Nagorno Karabakh and adjacent areas with the support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, but as of now even the representatives of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees have not had the opportunity to enter those areas, not to mention the civilians of Hadrut region,” Pashinyan added.
He also focused on the destruction of Armenian monuments and Azerbaijan’s official effort to erase all remnants of Armenians from Artsakh as a harbinger of genocide.
Pashinyan, however, told the forum that the most important tool for the prevention of genocide was dialogue and cooperation, including such discourse between Baku and Stepanakert.
“I don’t want us to consider and perceive genocide as something that cannot be avoided or prevented. I want to note, that regardless of how strange it may sound, I am convinced that, nevertheless, the most important tool for the prevention of genocide is cooperation and dialogue, including between Baku and Stepanakert. And we consider this very important in our foreign policy agenda,” Pashinyan said.
He also cited that prevalence of hate speech in the region, saying that both the governments of Turkey and Azerbaijan are actively inciting hatred toward Armenians.
