1 / 1

The member of the RA NA delegation Hasmik Hakobyan gave a speech within the framework of the 146^th Forum of the Inter-Parliamentary Union being held in Bahrain.

“Mrs President,

Colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Peaceful coexistence is based on mutual respect, mutual non-aggression, equality and mutual benefit.

This theory ceases to exist when you turn your attention to the situation in Nagorno Karabakh.

Dear colleagues,

Since 12 December 2022 Azerbaijan has been blocking the Lachin corridor, which is the only route connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia and thus the only lifeline to the rest of the world.

As a result of this action, 120.000 Armenian residents of Nagorno Karabakh are now effectively under siege. The blockade and isolation of thousands of people causes a dire humanitarian situation and creates existential threat for the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh. The humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh is worsening with each passing day. During the severe weather conditions, the people of Nagorno Karabakh are deprived of vital supplies of medicine, food and fuel from the outside world.

Closing the Lachin corridor was not enough for Azerbaijan, from time to time it also closes the gas pipeline and also frequent power outages take place.

With all this, the government of Azerbaijan pursues one goal: to break the will of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homeland. Moreover, according to the information we have, Baku's plan is as follows: to bring the economic and psychological pressure in Nagorno-Karabakh to a certain culmination point, then to open the corridor for a few days expecting that the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will leave their homes en masse, to close the corridor again and then open again for a few days and so on until the last Armenian leaves Nagorno-Karabakh. This is, of course, a blatant policy of ethnic cleansing. And I must record that if until now the international community was skeptical regarding our alarms about Azerbaijan's intentions to subject the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to ethnic cleansing, now we already see that this perception is slowly but steadily growing stronger among the international community.

Dear colleagues,

I also want to thank the countries and organizations that respond to the situation objectively and impartially, relying on human rights and international obligations of the countries.

Thank you,” the MP concluded.