Thousands of Artsakh residents gathered in Stepanakert to demand the end of the blockade on Jul. 14

Artsakh President Sends Powerful Appeal to International Community

Thousands of Artsakh residents gathered in Stepanakert’s Revival Square on Friday, heeding the country’s state minister’s call who announced a Nationwide Movement to protect Artsakh and end the now seven-month-long blockade.

“Today the residents of Artsakh have taken to the streets to announced that enough is enough,” said Artsakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan in an address to the protesters.

“Azerbaijan and the rest of the world want to turn Artsakh into an altar on which the lives of our compatriots and are children on sacrificed and we will not allow that,” Nersisyan added.

The state minister said that the situation in Artsakh is “dire,” explaining that Artsakh is running out of food, medication, fuel reserves and other basic supplies.

He urged Armenia, Russia and the international community to do more to compel Azerbaijan to life the blockade.

The large rally took place a day before Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan are scheduled to meet in Brussels for another round of talks hosted by European Council President Charles Michel.

“Now I want to ask the international community, the Republic of Armenia and the Russian Federation, what are you waiting for?” demanded Nersisyan.

“Are you waiting for more children from our country to die?” Nersisyan added referring to an incident where two children were found dead of heatstroke while their mother was looking for food to put on the table. “Every day, our mothers and sisters hide their tears and look into the eyes of their children feeling a great sense of responsibility for them; they make a choice and every time they unconditionally choose the Homeland, our Artsakh.”

Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan scoffed at pronouncements by international leaders who claim they are concerned for human rights, when they have not lifted a finger in the last seven months to compel Azerbaijan to end its deadly blockade and aggression against Artsakh.
“Tell me, how should I look in eyes of … a malnourished pregnant woman whose child may be born with defects, mothers whose biggest dream is to find a handful of fruit or candy for their children, people who stand in lines for hours to get a handful of sugar or oil,” Stepanyan said.

He appealed to all Armenians in the Diaspora, who he said “know what it means to be victims of genocide, to be deprived of your homeland, what it means to live far from the homeland, with longing for the homeland in your heart. I am begging you to prevent the new genocide of the Armenian people.”

In a powerful appeal to the international community, Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan detailed every single instance where Azerbaijan has advanced its policy to eradicate Armenians from Artsakh since December 12 when the blockade began.

Protesters marched to the Russian peacekeeping contingent headquarters

“The complete blockade of the Republic of Artsakh and its isolation from the outside world, pursued with the intermediate goal of forcibly subjugating the people of Artsakh, deepens the humanitarian crisis and sets the stage for the transformation of Azerbaijan’s ongoing crimes against humanity into the crime of genocide,” Harutyunyan said.

“Through these actions, Azerbaijan deliberately is creating unbearable conditions for the people of Artsakh, with the clear intention of depopulating the region and annihilating its people,” said the Artsakh President.

The participants of the rally then marched to the headquarters of the International Committee for the Red Cross in Stepanakert.

Stepanyan, the State Minister, called on ICRC representatives to alert the United Nations and the international community about the current situation in Artsakh.

“ICRC is the only institution in Artsakh that is an objective source of information for the world. But, according to the information we have, it does not adequately represent what is happening here. Delivering medicines and taking patients to Armenian medical facilities is not enough for Artsakh residents,” Nersisyan said.

Eteri Musayelyan, the ICRC Artsakh office public information officer, said that she would submit the demand to the head of the office.

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The protesters then headed to the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping contingent located near the Stepanakert Airport.

After meeting with commander of the peacekeeping forces General Alexander Lentsov, State Minister Nersisyan reported back to the protesters that the Russian military official conceded that several provisions of the November 9, 2020 agreement had been violated.

“They admitted that they have work to do to eliminate the humanitarian crisis,” Nersisyan said, adding that he received assurances from Lentsov that a comprehensive report of the Artsakh people’s demands will be submitted to Moscow.