The former ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan and the ombudsman of Artsakh Gegham Stepanyan issued a joint statement calling to stop the hate campaign against the people of Artsakh.
This campaign has been intensified since the moment the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement started in Armenia against the illegal “demarcation”, which turned into a movement demanding Pashinyan’s resignation.
Despite the fact that the movement is about Tavush and is led by the Primate of the Diocese of Tavush and a deputy from Tavush, the people of Artsakh are “accused” of the intention to overthrow Pashinyan’s government. Moreover, it is done at the highest level. Nikol Pashinyan, for example, called the people of Artsakh “5000-AMD worth materials for rallies”. He accused the Artsakh generals of treason and finally announced that he should have declaret that “Karabakh is Azerbaijan” in 2018.
Pashinyan was officially in Karabakh for the last time in May 2020, at the inauguration ceremony of his protégé, NK President Araik Harutyunyan. Moreover, for the first time, the inauguration took place in Shushi, and the entire new Armenian “nobility” was present at the banquet, despite the conditions of the COVID-2019.
After the inauguration, Harutyunyan and Pashinyan suddenly decided to establish “coronavirus” borders between Armenia and Artsakh. A few months before the 2020 war, Artsakh was completely closed for movement, both from inside and outside. And until now, no one has assessed why a “quarantine border” appeared between Armenia and Artsakh less than 5 minutes before the war.
Nikol Pashinyan, who signed the shameful statement of November 9, 2020, never went to Artsakh. Moreover, he almost never received any representatives of Artsakh leadership. And after the aggression of September 19, the complete occupation of Artsakh and the displacement of its native population, Pashinyan canceled all public relations with the leadership of Artsakh, calling the existence of the exiled Artsakh government a “national security threat” for Armenia.
Along with erasing Artsakh from the political rhetoric of the Armenian leadership, Artsakh political and military officials are being tried for alleged violations in the territory of Artsakh. Moreover, Pashinyan himself gives direct instructions to the law enforcement agencies.
Pashinyan, who claims that after 2020, the armed forces and heavy weapons of the Armenian Armed Forces have been withdrawn from Artsakh, accuses the Artsakh Defense Army of resisting and the leadership of Artsakh of refusing to negotiate. He directly states that all generals should rot in prison for the rest of their lives, without clarifying why: because they resisted, or because they did not resist? “Those people you mention are in prison; they are cowardly deserters. All cowardly traitors should be put in jail to rot in jail. This is a matter of the dignity of the Republic of Armenia,” said Pashinyan.
At the same time, he blames the leadership of Artsakh for evicting the entire population from Artsakh, almost openly hinting that the plan is different: not everyone should have left. If the leadership of Artsakh agreed to his plan and entered into negotiations, now several thousand people would live in Artsakh, and the rest would not be considered refugees, but deserters.
Now, when everyone has left, it is difficult to distinguish refugees and deserters, although this does not prevent arresting those who have an influence on Artsakh society. For example, the leaders of Stepanakert, Martakert, Askeran, Haterk communities of NK were detained and accused of not leaving their official vehicles in Artsakh. Lawyers are trying to find out who suffered damages in those cases, but they cannot get an answer.
In the statement of Tatoyan and Stepanyan, it is said that the representatives of the police are especially cruel towards the Artsakh citizens who were detained from the places of demonstrations, which is accompanied by humiliating expressions of the law enforcement officers, accusing them of the loss of Artsakh, declaring that they “have no place” in Armenia.
“The RA authorities do not have any authority to examine the obligations of Artsakh community or state officials and their actions towards the Artsakh state. The authorities of Armenia have renounced all legal, as well as political and even moral relations with Artsakh,” the statement said.
Who is to blame for the events of 2023 should still be found out, but it is unlikely that the current parliament of Armenia will do it. Andranik Kocharyan’s commission has not yet solved the mystery of the 44-Day War of 2020.
Naira Hayrumyan