Azerbaijan is Determined to Suffocate the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh Regardless of the Cost: Yeghishe Kirakosyan

During the hearings of the case titled Armenia v. Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Armenia's representative Yeghishe Kirakosyan stated that the court is the last hope for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh.

"Armenia is concerned about the fate of the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh. We do not come here with light hearts, and we hope that the issues raised in our request should have been resolved through the intervention of the UN Security Council on December 20, 2022, as well as through letters sent to the court. However, it seems that Azerbaijan is determined to suffocate the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, regardless of the cost. One person has already died due to the lack of medical assistance, and many others are at risk of facing a similar fate. The shelves are empty of groceries, food is being distributed by coupons, there is a shortage of medical supplies and medicines, gas has been cut off multiple times, power grid overloads have led to outages, schools and kindergartens are closed, and children are separated from their families.

Despite this humanitarian crisis, Azerbaijan continues to block the road through environmental pretexts, violating the commitments made on November 9, 2020, amid nearly unanimous international condemnation. A month ago, the European Court of Human Rights instructed Azerbaijan to guarantee the free movement of severely ill patients, which Azerbaijan has also ignored. If the court does not take immediate measures, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh will face an impossible choice: leave their ancestral homes or stay and starve to death,” Kirakosyan said.

Kirakosyan quoted excerpts from Aliyev's speeches, noting that Aliyev had stated that Armenians could "leave," asserting that Azerbaijan's main duty was to remove Armenians "from our lands." He claimed that "no songs will be sung in Armenian, as the Azerbaijani language will now prevail in this land." Speaking about Aliyev's statements, Yeghishe Kirakosyan said: "He said that they can leave; no one will stop them, they can leave under the protection of peacekeepers or by bus. In other words, people of Armenian descent cannot enter Nagorno-Karabakh, but they can leave it."