Azerbaijan Attempts to Ethnically Cleanse Artsakh by Violating Ceasefire and Turning Russia into a Belligerent Party, Says Hovhannisyan

Azerbaijan is attempting to ethnically cleanse Artsakh through sporadic military activities. This viewpoint was expressed by military expert Karen Hovhannisyan in a conversation with NEWS.am, addressing the recent violations of the ceasefire regime by the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in various settlements of Artsakh.

"It seems the population of Artsakh is starting to return to their homes, which is why Baku is trying to create the impression that living in Artsakh is dangerous, to achieve the goal of ethnic cleansing," notes the expert.

According to Hovhannisyan, the aim of ethnically cleansing Artsakh is to ensure an absolute majority in the event of a possible return of refugees and the holding of a referendum, thus providing the necessary legal grounds to resolve the status of Artsakh in a desired manner and to close the issue of its status.

The military expert assesses that Azerbaijan is attempting to overshadow the role of the Russian peacekeeping mission in Artsakh through the violations of the ceasefire and escalating the situation. "There is an attempt to make Russia a party to the conflict and to undermine its neutrality, which could potentially lead to the proposal of involving Turkish peacekeepers. If Turkish peacekeepers suddenly appear in Artsakh, the Armenians there will naturally not be able to stay; in that case, a legal solution to the issue could be provided through a referendum," Hovhannisyan stated.