Navigate
X
    Emil Lazarian
  • 1 year ago
    • Categories: 2023

Aurora Prize, Moderna co-founder Noubar Afeyan slams ‘horrifying and inhumane’ Azeri blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh

 11:17,

YEREVAN, AUGUST 10, ARMENPRESS. Aurora Prize co-founder Noubar Afeyan has reacted to the report by a former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court warning that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Moderna co-founder Afeyan took to X social media platform and condemned the Azeri blockade as ‘horrifying and inhumane’ after the ICC ex-prosecutor issued the report.

"As a descendant of the Armenian Genocide that occurred a century ago, I find the unfolding situation in #artsakh horrifying and inhumane,” Afeyan posted on X and shared an Associated Press article on the Azeri blockade and the genocide warning issued by former chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno Ocampo.

Ocampo has warned that Azerbaijan is preparing genocide against the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh and called for a U.S. Security Council intervention.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.  Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations.

On July 26, Armenia sent a humanitarian convoy carrying emergency food and medication for Nagorno-Karabakh, but Azerbaijan blocked the trucks at the entrance of Lachin Corridor.

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS