No autonomy is acceptable for the people of Artsakh, Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan told reporters, answering a question about the possibility of signing an agreement between the heads of Armenia and Azerbaijan, according to which Nagorno-Karabakh can be granted the status of cultural autonomy.
Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev are scheduled to meet in Brussels today.
“This is not an end in itself and not a whim. The people of Artsakh already know what autonomy is within Azerbaijan. He knows by clear demographic indicators, by the discriminatory policy pursued by the leadership of the AzUSSR. The number of the Azerbaijani population in the NPO was growing, the number of the Armenian population was declining. The Azerbaijani way of life, culture and so on were imposed on the people of Artsakh. We have repeatedly said that we will not be part of Azerbaijan. No matter who accepts, we will not be part of Azerbaijan,” he said.
Asked if the document nevertheless becomes a reality, the Ombudsman noted that the people of Artsakh will not accept it.
“The statements of the National Assembly, the daily statements of the Foreign Minister testify that the authorities and the people of Artsakh unanimously say: there are red lines that cannot be crossed, Artsakh will not be part of Azerbaijan. The fate of the people cannot be decided without taking into account their will. The person sitting in Brussels and Washington cannot decide how a resident of Stepanakert or Martuni should live. This is absurd,” he said.
Gegham Stepanyan noted that following the results of meetings in various formats, he also got the impression that under the guise of introducing international mechanisms for the protection of rights, involvement in Azerbaijan is being dragged through.
“Our clear answer was make no mistake, it’s impossible. We see a discriminatory policy, then there were 30 years of Azerbaijan's policy of hatred towards Armenians. What rational person would think after that that Artsakh can live as part of Azerbaijan or that the rights of Artsakh people can be protected in Azerbaijan?”
Gegham Stepanyan recalled that 80 civilians were brutally killed by the Azerbaijanis.
“Azerbaijan systematically destroys Armenian cultural monuments in the occupied territories. What kind of autonomy can we talk about? concluded the Ombudsman.