The depopulation of Artsakh began with the siege of Artsakh. In a conversation with Forrights.am, political scientist Andrias Ghukasyan says, referring to the developments taking place in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic in the last year.
“The blockade is an action aimed at oppressing the people and imposing a political ultimatum. There was an attack on Artsakh on September 19, hundreds of people were killed: that is a fact. Both the blockade and the attack, and the behavior of the Russian peacekeepers, all those actions were aimed at dissolving the Republic of Artsakh, removing the people.”
“Perhaps, the leadership of the Russian Federation hoped that in such conditions a certain number [of people] would remain, but not a single person remained: they all left. They were building a prison in Aghdam: if that was not a threat, what was it? In 2020, we saw the footage of a young man and an old woman being shot in Hadrut. Who hasn’t seen it?” said the political analyst.
The authorities of Armenia have left unanswered the statement of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergey Lavrov, asserting that no ethnic cleansing took place in Artsakh and Armenians left it on their own free will.
“Lavrov’s reaction is cynicism, but let’s look at the issue from Russia’s point of view. Can they record that ethnic cleansing took place? No, because they have a legislative act in their country that gives the army a mandate to ensure the safety of people in Artsakh.” he said. Now, can Lavrov stand against Russia? For instance, Prigozhin did and what happened to him? He exploded in the plane, Lavrov cannot come out against the Russian authorities. Now he has nothing left but to lie that ethnic cleansing did not take place. Why don’t the Armenian authorities react to this, and what should Pashinyan do? He just can’t. He tried to distance himself from the ethnic cleansing, but more and more facts are emerging that the RA authorities have their share of responsibility for the forced displacement. They were silently supporting that ethnic cleansing and currently are trying to hide the consequences of ethnic cleansing.
“Pashinyan does not support the legitimate demands of the people of Artsakh, does not recognize the legitimate authorities of Artsakh, the government in exile. Why does he not recognize it? By doing so, he helps Turkey, Azerbaijan and Russia. A crime took plce, and the victim is told to say that there was no crime,” said Andrias Ghukasyan.
Narek Kirakosyan