Official Yerevan warned on Tuesday that Azerbaijan’s attack was Baku’s effort to subject the Armenians of Artsakh to ethnic cleansing.
“Azerbaijan has essentially launched the ground operation of subjecting the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing. As it is stated in the Foreign Ministry’s statement, we believe that the Russian peacekeeping forces should first of all take measures, and second of all we expect the UN Security Council to take measures as well,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during an address to the nation after the Azerbaijani attacks.
He was referencing a statement issued by Armenia’s foreign ministry earlier, in which official Yerevan called on the Russian peacekeepers to ensure the security on the ground in Artsakh.
“We call on international partners, members of the UN Security Council which has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, the Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh based on the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020 signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, to undertake clear and unequivocal steps to put an end to Azerbaijan’s aggression,” the foreign ministry said in its statement, condemning Baku’s latest attacks.
“Guided by a sense of impunity, Azerbaijan openly took responsibility for the aggression. The Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan stated that ‘anti-terrorist measures’ are being launched in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh, about which, according to the official statement of the Azerbaijani side, the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, as well as the Russian-Turkish monitoring center, have been informed,” said Armenia’s foreign ministry.
“We strongly condemn Azerbaijan’s aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh and the mass atrocity crimes which is the continuation of the large-scale use of force unleashed by Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh exactly three years ago, in September, 2020. Under the pretext of ‘destroying military positions,’ Azerbaijan is shelling civilian settlements, the city of Stepanakert, and other cities and villages,” added Yerevan.
“The Armenian side has repeatedly warned that the continuous aggressive actions of Azerbaijan against Nagorno-Karabakh, the unconcealed warmongering rhetoric, the absolutely false and reprehensible propaganda of calling the population of Nagorno-Karabakh “terrorists” pursues one goal: to subject the population of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing through the use of force and deprive the population of Nagorno-Karabakh from the right to live freely and in dignity in their own homeland. The illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, since December 2022 and the total blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh pursue the same goal,” the foreign ministry said.
“Among other aspects, the attack was preceded by disseminating false information including by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan about mining and sabotage activities, which indicates the planning of the attack and the preparation of the information field. We state once again that the armed forces and military equipment of the Republic of Armenia are not deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh, all the news about mining and sabotage operations are false and fabricated,” said the foreign ministry.
Echoing the foreign ministry statement, Pashinyan emphasized the need for Russia to step up its effort in Artsakh.
He also said that the government of Armenia immediately convened a Security Council meeting to discuss the situation.
“The information that Azerbaijan had officially informed Russia on launching these operations was strange and perplexed us. Of course, this is Azerbaijan’s information. But the fact is that we haven’t received any information from our partners in Russia about that operation,” Pashinyan said.
The current situation wasn’t unpredictable because the tension was visible, he added.
Pashinyan said it was regrettable that some circles have already attempted to link the attacks with decisions made by his government.
“I want to repeat what I’ve said many times, Armenia hasn’t given anyone the mandate to carry out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. And ensuring the rights and security of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh has always been, and continues to be our objective, this is what has always been in our agenda,” Pashinyan said.
He pointed out Azerbaijan’s obscure statement that it would leave a humanitarian corridor open for the civilians to leave Nagorno-Karabakh. Pashinyan said this statement from Azerbaijan proves that it is carrying out ethnic cleansing.
“If they claim that a so-called anti-terror operations is taking place, and that civilian infrastructures and civilians aren’t targeted, then a question arises, why are they announcing opening a humanitarian corridor for people to leave Nagorno-Karabakh? If what they’re saying were to be true, they would on the contrary have to call on citizens to take shelter and avoid areas where they could accidentally get hit. This logic developed by Azerbaijan explicitly shows the launch of a concrete operation on ethnic cleansing,” Pashinyan said.
Armenia is not involved in the military actions and does not maintain any military presence in Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan said in a message to the international community, whose representatives have called on “both sides” to halt military activities.
He said that the situation along the borders of Armenia is relatively stable, with no visible or significant changes in the situation.
“But as I’ve said, I repeat that the main and key target, the goal of this operation is to drag the Republic of Armenia into military operations,” Pashinyan warned.
He said that a number of Azerbaijani news media are falsely reporting that Azeri forces are targeting the military units of the Republic of Armenia, referring to Nagorno-Karabakh’s defense army.
“Unfortunately, a number of our colleagues are repeating this information, who say that they call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to halt the military operations. I want to state for the record that the Republic of Armenia is not involved in the military operations and I want to once again record that the Republic of Armenia doesn’t have an army in Nagorno-Karabakh,” Pashinyan said.
He warned that it is “evident” that a number of domestic and foreign forces are seeking to drag Armenia into hostilities.
“Attempts to drag the Republic of Armenia into military escalation are unacceptable for us and we will manage this process, as much as we understand the emotional and other issues tied to this situation. We should not have allowed some people, some forces, foreign or domestic, to question the viability statehood of Armenia,” Pashinyan said.
