Armenia set to employ international genocide prevention mechanisms to avert ethnic cleansing in Artsakh – PM
Armenia will employ international genocide prevention mechanisms to prevent ethnic cleansing in Artsakh. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the government sitting today he has given relevant instructions to the Foreign Ministry in this regard, Armradio reports.
“The Azerbaijani state propaganda has long been creating an information background for large-scale attack on Nagorno Karabakh, and the trends of escalation are visible on the ground, as well,” the Prime Minister said.
“Our assessment remains the same. The military-political leadership of Azerbaijan is preparing for ethnic cleansing and genocide of the people of Nagorno Karabakh. This has actually been enshrined in the February 22nd decision of the International Court of Justice, where it is clearly recorded that the blockade of the Lachin corridor can lead to irreversible humanitarian consequences of the people of Nagorno Karabakh,” he said.
The Prime Minister stressed the importance of taking measures to employ international genocide prevention mechanisms. “I mean, in particular, the mechanisms available within the framework of the UN, and I have given relevant instructions to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard,” PM Pashinyan stated.
He attached importance to sending an international fact-finding mission to the Lachin corridor and Nagorno Karabakh, noting that it is important in terms of addressing the groundless statements of Azerbaijan claiming that Armenia has an army in Nagorno Karabakh and that Armenia is transporting military cargo to Artsakh.
“These claims are groundless, and Azerbaijan is trying to use those as an excuse for a new military escalation in the region. Therefore, dispatching an international fact-finding mission to Nagorno Karabakh and the Lachin corridor is becoming a necessity in this regard, as well,” he said.
“There is a Defense Army in Artsakh and its existence is justified as long as the people in Nagorno Karabakh are facing a threat of ethnic cleansing and genocide,” he said.
PM Pashinyan stressed, however, that the Defense Army is not the only mechanism to prevent genocide in Nagorno Karabakh. “One such mechanism is the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno Karabakh,” he said.
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