Paris Mayor Warns of Genocide in Artsakh; Speaks with Artsakh President via Video Chat
Azerbaijan has blocked a convoy of 10 trucks carrying humanitarian assistance to Artsakh from several regions of France, which arrived in Kornidzor in Armenia’s Syunik Province at the entrance of the Lachin Corridor on Wednesday, from entering Artsakh. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is leading a delegation of French officials accompanying the humanitarian convoy.
Xavier Bertrand, the President of the Regional Council of the French region of Hauts-de-France who is also accompanying the aid delivery, said that their convoy was barred and condemned the move.
The Coordinating Council of Armenian Organizations in France (CCAF) organized this humanitarian effort, with Paris and other major French cities providing the cargo that arrived in Yerevan on Tuesday and headed for the border on Thursday,
The convoy of trucks arrived at the humanitarian aid headquarters established by the Armenian government in Kornidzor, where another convoy of trucks carrying assistance from Armenia has been stranded for over a month.
Vardan Sargsyan, a member of the Armenian government’s humanitarian crisis response group for Nagorno-Karabakh, told reporters that the increase in international awareness will boost the process and it will be possible to deliver crucial supplies and mitigate the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Like we said, our efforts are ongoing, and the only goal is to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Nagorno-Karabakh as soon as possible,” Sargsyan said, adding that the situation in Artsakh is deteriorating hour by hour.
Officials from a number of regions of France have arrived in Armenia to express support and alliance to the people of Artsakh, Hidalgo, the Paris mayor, said during a press conference in Goris.
“We are here today because the Armenian organizations in France told us it was time to act, time to address the people of France. And there was especially a need to bring together the French local authorities in order to be able to send humanitarian aid to Artsakh. It was possible to collect ten cargo trucks of humanitarian aid thanks to the unity of local self-governing bodies, and the aid consists of food, baby food, milk powder, generators and solar panels. This will allow Artsakh to withstand,” Hidalgo said.
She said that the aid is intended for six cities in Artsakh that have been under blockade since December 2022.
“Our message is clear and simple. First of all we are calling for respect of international law. The Armenians in Artsakh are under blockade involuntarily and this blockade is being perpetrated in violation of international law and the November 9, 2020 trilateral statement,” Hidalgo said,
“What is happening today in Artsakh is similar to genocide. The former prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has described what’s happening in Artsakh as genocide, and four of the principles defining genocide have been acknowledged by the international community and experts. The advisor to the UN Secretary General responsible for genocide prevention is also using the same word to describe the situation in Artsakh,” added Hidalgo.
“Genocide, ethnic cleansing by an authoritarian regime against a people that is simply asking for its rights to be respected, rights that any person or nation has. This is why we’ve come here for a first-hand assessment and we condemn it. And we are also asking the French President to use his position at the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution with the purpose of respecting the rights of the people of Artsakh,” Hidalgo added.
The Paris mayor and other French officials accompanying the aid convoy held a video conversation with Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan, who expressed gratitude on behalf of the people of Artsakh for the assistance.
“Last year, in December, I visited France and held meetings with our friends, and back then I warned about everything that’s happening today. Unfortunately, my predictions were right,” Harutyunyan said.
“Azerbaijan is expecting to bring Artsakh and its people down to their knees through humanitarian pressure, but they will not succeed. We know how to respect, but we will not bow to pressure and succumb. We will fight for as long as we can. Although we don’t have any expectations from the world, the major powers, international organizations, but we will continue. The dignity we inherited throughout millennia is far more important to us,” Harutyunyan said in his remarks to the French officials.
Hidalgo later met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who underscored that Azerbaijan’s blocking of the convoy “once again proves Baku’s policy of deteriorating the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh,” a statement from his office said.