VIDEO: Don’t Interrupt Me, You Call Armenia ‘Western Azerbaijan,’ Rubinýan to Azerbaijani Delegate

The Azerbaijani regime must be punished for ethnic cleansing. This was stated by Ruben Rubinyan, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia and head of the Armenian delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), during an extraordinary discussion on the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“Azerbaijan had a clear intention to carry out ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh, and it did so,” emphasized Rubinyan. He went on to express his astonishment at the cynicism of the Azerbaijani MPs, who support an authoritarian, genocidal regime.

According to Rubinyan, they refer to forcibly displaced Armenians as citizens of Azerbaijan, yet there has been no mention of the losses or the needs of those displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh. He stressed that if one considers that Azerbaijani MPs defend the Azerbaijani regime, everything falls into place.

“In response to Mr. Yafarov, I must say that these individuals have lost their sense of shame to the extent that just a few weeks after the ethnic cleansing of an entire population, they come to this organization and refer to Armenia as ‘Eastern Azerbaijan’,” said Rubinyan.

He added that it doesn’t take a genius to understand that Baku’s actions—the 2020 war, the recent ethnic cleansings, the demand for a transit corridor from Armenia, and the refusal to recognize the country’s borders—point to one thing: Azerbaijan poses a threat from the perspective of international order and law.

“That regime must be punished, of course, with the help of the law. Armenia is awaiting the support of the international community and each of you personally. This is not only about Armenia, but about international order and international law,” noted Rubinyan. It is noteworthy that earlier, MEPs adopted a non-binding resolution during a plenary session in Strasbourg, calling on EU countries to impose targeted sanctions against Azerbaijani leaders responsible for aggression and human rights violations in Nagorno-Karabakh.