Armenia Responds to Aliyev’s Threats: Azerbaijan Preparing to Subject Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to Genocide

YEREVAN — The Foreign Ministry of Armenia responded to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s statements on March 18, 2023.

During a speech in Talish, Nagorno-Karabakh, which was depopulated during the 44-day war, Aliyev stated that “there will be no peace treaty.” Azerbaijan is currently implementing resettlement programs in depopulated regions, attempting to erase Armenian presence from Nagorno-Karabakh territories that are now under its control. Such actions are in direct violation of point 7 of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020, which mandates the safe return of internally displaced persons and refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions under the supervision of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Azerbaijan’s policy of illegal resettlement and terrorizing the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh is making it impossible to implement this provision of the trilateral declaration. In fact, Azerbaijan is doing everything to make peace in the region impossible. Despite adopting statements recognizing each other’s territorial integrity and sovereignty based on the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991, the president of Azerbaijan has announced that the border delimitation should occur under Azerbaijan’s conditions, and has continuously referred to some historical maps. Azerbaijan continues to occupy sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia that were illegally seized in 2021 and 2022, and declares practically the entire territory of the Republic of Armenia an Azerbaijani territory, even threatening Armenia if it does not comply.

Azerbaijan has violated every provision of the trilateral and quadrilateral declarations, including illegally closing the Lachin Corridor and keeping Armenian prisoners and hostages in illegal detention. Furthermore, the president of Azerbaijan violated his commitment to discuss the issue of the rights and guarantees of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, as Azerbaijan is planning to discuss the issue of “integration of the Armenians of Karabakh”. Armenia’s alarms about Azerbaijan’s preparations to subject Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians to genocide should not be ignored by the international community.

In addition, Azerbaijan’s recent accusation against Armenia of being mono-ethnic is false, as four national minorities have a mandate in the highest legislative power of Armenia, while there is no such provision in Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s assessment is that Azerbaijan is aggressively preparing to subject the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh to genocide and carry out renewed aggression against Armenia. To prevent this, it is necessary to launch international mechanisms for the prevention of genocides, send an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin Corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh, and condemn Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions and policies. The Republic of Armenia is committed to the peace agenda on the basis of the trilateral and quadrilateral statements.