Authorities Did Not Even Condemn These Genocidal Actions: Tatoyan

Former Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan writes, “On September 2, the day of the proclamation of the independence of the Republic of Artsakh, we laid flowers at the graves of our immortal heroes in the ‘Yerablur’ military pantheon. Today is a historic day. In 1991, on this day, Artsakh declared its independence on a legal basis, with the democratic will and historical justice for rights. But today, more than three decades later, tens of thousands of Armenians from Artsakh have been forcibly displaced, leaving behind memories, graves of ancestors, churches, and a millennia-old history of an entire people.

From 2020 to 2023, Azerbaijan carried out ethnic cleansing in Artsakh. Tens of thousands of people suffered, were subjected to atrocities and ethnic cleansing, and became refugees before the eyes of the world without any consequences. The authorities of Armenia did not even condemn these genocidal actions. As a result, no Armenians remain in Artsakh; however, the right to live with dignity in one’s own homeland cannot be extinguished. And today, on the day of the proclamation of the independence of Artsakh, we will always remember that history does not end; it continues as long as there is memory, a fight for rights, and the question of historical justice.

Today, the Azerbaijani authorities continue their aggressive demands under the false thesis of ‘Western Azerbaijan’ over the entire Republic of Armenia, including Armenian churches and cultural monuments. This will continue as long as the Azerbaijani demands are submissively met by the authorities of Armenia for the sake of their own power,” Tatoyan states.