Today is September 19. Exactly a year ago, Azerbaijani aggression took place in Artsakh with the participation of Russian troops, as a result of which Armenian Artsakh was depopulated of Armenians for the first time in the last millennium. It happened as a result of the criminal consensus of the RA government and the international community. This consensus is evidenced by the meeting of the high representatives of the Russian Federation, the EU and the United States held in Istanbul on September 17, during which, in fact, permission for aggression was given. The fact of that meeting was not denied, and the lack of condemnation of the fact of aggression from all three sides speaks of the consensus.
However, one year after the aggression, it turned out that there is a powerful legal armor that protects the Armenian Artsakh: it is the RA Constitution, against which Baku is now fighting, “recognizing” that Artsakh is a part of Armenia, and even occupation, consensus do not solve the issue of subjecting Artsakh to Azerbaijan.
The September 19 plan was skillfully developed; for this, the instructors of the Turkish Armed Forces headquarters were in Baku, and the Russian-Turkish “monitoring” center was still operating in occupied Akna. Armenia announced the withdrawal of its troops before that. As the last President of Artsakh Samvel Shahramanyan later admitted, “we were left alone.”
The tragic events that took place during the next 20 days are a direct consequence of the aggression of September 19. It should be recorded in the international documents that it has been possible only as a result of the war of 2020, the occupation of a part of Artsakh, the declaration of November 9, the introduction of Russian troops, the 10-month blockade of Artsakh, and the complete lack of bread.
On September 19, there was an attack on the civilian population, aggression. The destructive role of Russia as a “guarantor of security” should be recorded: on September 19, 2023, together with the Russians, the residents of the occupied villages were relocated to the Russian base at the Stepanakert airport. On September 19, almost all the villages of Artsakh were captured, people were displaced from the villages to Stepanakert, suffering from hunger and bombings (people left their homes in 1-2 hours, fled through the forests, reached Stepanakert, lived there for a week on the streets, without food and shelter, leaving their relatives, unburied corpses in villages). Only after that, the Decree was signed to disband the Republic of Artsakh and disarm the army (although those in positions fought to the end).
In the afternoon of September 28, the press secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the Kremlin “takes into account” the liquidation of the NKR institutions and “closely monitors the humanitarian situation” in the region. The representative of the Kremlin noted that there is a clause in the decree of the NKR President about the integration of the local Armenian population into Azerbaijan with the “new coordinate system”. “We have repeatedly stated that we will continue to pay attention to humanitarian aspects in our contacts with Baku.” Peskov urged not to look for those responsible for the emigration of Armenians from Karabakh.
Peskov and the others do not say that the reason for the gross violation of “humanitarian” rights, the destitute and deprivation of citizenship of people are the political decisions of the parties to the conflict and the illegal use of force.
Moreover, a number of countries, including EU member Hungary, recognized Baku’s “military victory”, and, after Pashinyan recognized “Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan”, Baku and Yerevan talked about the need to enshrine “political decisions” and “new realities” in the constitutions of Armenia and Azerbaijan. This proves that the “new realities” and “political decisions” contradict the existing laws and are therefore illegal.
Moreover, one year after September 19, Baku demands to change the RA Constitution and exclude the reference in it to the RA Declaration of Independence, therefore, to the decision of December 1, 1989, according to which Artsakh was reunited with Armenia.
Baku and Moscow claim that the emigration of Armenians from Artsakh was “voluntary”, no one forced the Armenians to leave; on the contrary, they were encouraged to stay and integrate. Accordingly, it is argued that no occupation or forced displacement took place. The RA government claims something similar: Nikol Pashinyan blames the “new” leadership of Artsakh for rejecting the proposals of Baku and Yerevan. In other words, the people of Artsakh should have stayed and integrated, perhaps they should have withdrawn the Artsakh signature of the 1989 decision.
Although the Armenian government talks about “ethnic cleansing”, it has not initiated political and legal procedures to accuse Azerbaijan of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement of the indigenous population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, the facts prove that the deportation of Armenians from Artsakh took place as a result of consistent genocidal actions. The fundamental international principle of non-use of force was violated.
The European Parliament, in a resolution adopted on October 5, condemned Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing in Artsakh and called for sanctions against the Azerbaijani government. The resolution also emphasized the demand for international guarantees for the realization of the right of Armenians to return to Artsakh. Moreover, the European Parliament called for the suspension of the “Memorandum of Understanding between the European Union and Azerbaijan on strategic partnership in the field of energy”.
The resolution calls for the immediate withdrawal of the Azerbaijani forces from Artsakh and the deployment of international peacekeeping forces in the region, as well as the protection of the property of the Armenian people who were forcibly displaced.
The Senate reminds that respecting the right of peoples to self-determination, which extends to the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh, is the only possible way to a stable peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and that the states are obliged to respect and protect this right.
In December, 2023, on occasion of December 10, the Independence Referendum of the Republic of Armenia, the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia and International Human Rights Days, more than 120 parties, non-governmental organizations, media and community leaders of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) signed a message addressed to the international community. The addressees of the message are: the UN Secretary General, the UN Security Council, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the leaders of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair countries, the Council of Europe (the Secretary General, the PACE President, the President of the Council of Ministers), the President of the Council of the European Union, the President of the European Parliament, the Secretary General of the CIS, CSTO Secretary General, NATO Secretary General.
The updated list of signatories can be found here.
“Our collective decision to leave our Homeland – the Republic of Artsakh (the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic), our homes, our Armenian churches, leaving behind the relics of Saint John the Baptist (Surb Hovhannes Mkrtich) and the graves of our ancestors, which we have protected for centuries, is the proof to the whole world that freedom is the highest value for the people of Artsakh. We have made this forced decision amidst ongoing genocidal actions and looming serious existential threats,” the message says.
We opposed the political deals that were offered to us at the expense of our sovereign right to live in our Homeland, won at the cost of lives and enormous sacrifices of many generations during the long centuries of struggle to preserve our national dignity and identity. And this struggle is not over. We are confident that we will regain our Motherland with the power of truth and justice, states the document.
“In 1992, all CSCE/OSCE member states recognized the right of elected representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh to participate in the OSCE international conference, which is authorized to settle the Karabakh conflict.”
“In 1992, all CSCE/OSCE member states recognized the right of elected representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh to participate in the OSCE international conference mandated to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.”
“…the international community recorded the fact that there were disagreements over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, recognizing the disputed nature of this territory. Armenia and Azerbaijan then became participating countries of the CSCE/OSCE on the condition that they recognized the existence of disagreements over the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh and agreed that the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh would be determined at a peace conference under the auspices of the CSCE/OSCE. Both states have assumed an international obligation to resolve the issue exclusively by peaceful means.”
The whole civilized world faces a choice today: either to restore the international order in Nagorno-Karabakh, based on respect for the right to self-determination and other rights and freedoms of peoples and human rights, or to agree that blockade, armed aggression, genocide and occupation are legitimate ways to resolve conflicts.
Today, leaders of many states speak about the need for the return of Armenians to Nagorno-Karabakh. However, we believe that for the peaceful, safe and dignified return and life of our people in their homeland the following indisputable conditions are required:
First, we rule out the return of citizens of the Republic of Artsakh to the jurisdiction of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani armed forces, police and administration must be completely withdrawn from the territory of the Republic of Artsakh, including the Shahumyan region, where too Azerbaijan bears full responsibility for the ethnic cleansing in 1992.
Second, multinational international UN peacekeeping forces should be deployed along the entire border of the Republic of Artsakh, and a demilitarized zone should be created.
Third, the internationally recognized Lachine Corridor should be completely transferred to UN control and management.
Fourth, the territory of the Republic of Artsakh should be handed over to the UN control to ensure the conditions for the return of all refugees, formation of democratic and legal institutions and the restoration of the economy. All refugees must have equal status, equal rights and be subject to the common rules of the transitional period until a referendum is held to confirm the final political status of Nagorno-Karabakh, the result of which will be legally recognized by all states.
Fifth, the possibility of criminal prosecution by Azerbaijan of citizens of the Republic of Artsakh on any charges for the entire period of the conflict should be completely excluded. All arrested and already convicted Armenians in Azerbaijan must be released immediately. We are ready to recognize the competence of an international tribunal to investigate every war crime for which our citizens are accused, provided that in a similar way this tribunal will also address all war crimes committed by citizens of Azerbaijan and its mercenaries.
Naira Hayrumyan