Azerbaijan Implements Chemical Disinfection of Artsakh Populated by Armenians, Says Armenian Human Rights Defender

The policy of state-sponsored anti-Armenian sentiment by the Azerbaijani authorities and the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is substantiated by new developments. In particular, the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan has released postal stamps titled "Azerbaijan 2020," one of which is an overt propaganda for the extermination of the Armenian population of Artsakh.

As stated by the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, on his Facebook page: "In the stamp, a person in medical protective clothing is chemically disinfecting Artsakh from Armenians, explicitly presenting it as 'dirt.' This stamp once again proves the claims of the Armenian Human Rights Defender that Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of genocide against Armenians solely based on their ethnic identity, simply because the people living in Artsakh are Armenians."

The state-level propaganda of anti-Armenianism has been consistently carried out for years. The brutalities and tortures committed against ethnic Armenians by Azerbaijani armed forces during the war are the consequences of this incitement of enmity and organized anti-Armenian policies.

The deeper causes of all this are substantiated by the evidence and analysis from the joint public report of human rights defenders from Armenia and Artsakh titled "The Organized Hate Speech and Hostility Towards Ethnic Armenians in Azerbaijan as Fundamental Causes of Ethnic-based Tortures and Inhumane Treatment by Azerbaijani Armed Forces." The report also proves that anti-Armenianism in Azerbaijan is a closed chain—generated by Azerbaijani authorities, including high-ranking officials, and then widely utilized and encouraged in nearly identical formulations by cultural, sports, and public figures, often specifically targeting children.

This is what must be taken into account during the process of determining the borders of the Republic of Armenia to guarantee the rights of Armenians to life, as well as their physical and mental inviolability, is highlighted in the human rights defender’s Facebook post.