STATEMENT

We, the participants of the international scientific conference “Topical Issues of the Caucasus region: Opportunities and Challenges” held at Mesrop Mashtots University, making a joint statement, aim to draw the attention of the international community to the situation in the Republic of Artsakh and those territories of the Republic of Artsakh, which have been occupied by Azerbaijan.

This is to state that:

• In autumn 2020, the military aggression carried out by Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh was accompanied by war crimes committed by Azerbaijan, targeting civilian settlements and civilian population, destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage and occupation of the territories of the Republic of Artsakh.
• Following the tripartite agreement signed by the President of the Russian Federation, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of Azerbaijan on November 10, 2020 and the deployment of the Russian peacekeeping forces in the Republic of Artsakh, Azerbaijan has not renounced its state-sponsored anti-Armenian terrorism policy, one of the goals of which is to strike at the reputation of the Russian peacekeeping mission and push it out.
• Azerbaijan continues to use force, targeting Armenian civilian settlements and civilian population near the line of contact. In the past small-caliber gunfire has recently been followed by the use of large-caliber weapons, in particular grenade launchers. The consequences of such actions are cases of intimidation, murder and injury among civilians. Widespread violations were recorded in the issue of the rights of people living in Artsakh.
• Azerbaijan does not shy away from the practice of creating a humanitarian crisis. In recent days the restoration of the accident of the only gas pipeline shipped to the Republic of Artsakh from the Republic of Armenia has been hindered by the Azerbaijani side.
• Azerbaijan uses psychological terrorism against the Artsakh Republic. In particular, the population of peaceful settlements near the line of contact is regularly urged by loudspeakers to leave the settlements immediately.
• Azerbaijan’s information terrorism continues, which is manifested in hacker attacks on Armenian news sites and social network accounts. Simultaneously, the information field of Azerbaijan continues to be the main platform for exposing anti-Armenian propaganda.
• At the same time, a policy of destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage, fixed at the state level, in the occupied territories of the Republic of Artsakh by Azerbaijanis is being implemented.

Azerbaijan has in no way renounced the theoretical and practical expressions of its anti-Armenian policy. The actions carried out by Azerbaijan at the state level are aimed at evicting Armenians from the Republic of Artsakh and, at the first opportunity, ethnic cleansing.

Taking into account the realities, we, the representatives of the scientific community, call on the international community to use all the possible levers to curb Azerbaijan’s state terrorism policy. We urge the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs to restart the process of the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict settlement on the basis of their own principles. There is no alternative to the realization of the right of the people of the Republic of Artsakh to self-determination.

 Mesrop Mashtots University

The Republic of Artsakh, Stepanakert, March 12, 2022