Aliyev Fails to Understand That the Conflict Cannot Be Considered Resolved at the Expense of the Rights of the Armenian Population of Artsakh: Ombudsman of Artsakh

The Ombudsman of Artsakh, Gegham Stepanyan, has addressed the statements made by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. “The various statements by Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, as well as the general rhetoric used by Azerbaijani authorities, are clear indicators that any prospects for peaceful coexistence entail irreversible consequences, jeopardizing the fundamental rights and freedoms of the people of Artsakh, and primarily endangering their security, lives, and dignity. The people of Artsakh have never — I repeat, never — lived and cannot live in peace with Azerbaijan; this is a fact documented through years of bitterness and numerous heinous incidents. Any attempts to demonstrate or stage otherwise are futile and meaningless; the conviction of the people of Artsakh on this issue is unbreakable and undeniable.

External forces and international organizations that are protectors and advocates of the fundamental right to life for ordinary people must evaluate the realities honestly and justly. The international community must ultimately realize that there cannot be peaceful coexistence with a people that has been nourished by an incalculable volume of hatred for years, and has committed the most brutal war crimes just months ago, targeting almost all civilian settlements and populations of Artsakh, torturing Armenian prisoners of war, and treating the bodies of fallen servicemen in inhumane ways.

The Azerbaijan-Karabakh conflict is not resolved; in the current situation created after the trilateral statement of November 9, the rights of the people of Artsakh are violated every day, while Aliyev speaks of the conflict being resolved and threatens new war. The main reason for the existence of this phenomenon is that the aggressive war unleashed by Azerbaijan against the peaceful population of Artsakh in the autumn of 2020 has not yet received a clear legal evaluation. If Aliyev has not understood over the past 30 years that the conflict cannot be considered resolved at the expense of the rights of the Armenian population of Artsakh, then he must be compelled to recognize that resolution.

Finally, the international community must understand that its passive stance casts doubt on the very ideology of the universality and priority of human rights and surrenders human rights and freedoms to authoritarianism and aggression,” the Ombudsman of Artsakh wrote on his Facebook page.