Radar Armenia spoke with human rights defender Vardan Harutyunyan about the developments taking place in Artsakh.
- Azerbaijan has closed the road from Artsakh to Armenia for 2 days, and the gas supply to all of Artsakh has been stopped since yesterday. How do you interpret such a situation, what is the consequence of this?
- The main reason is that after the war of 2020 and November 9, Armenia could not understand the new situation and did not take adequate steps. This is the result of the lack of diplomacy and pinning hope only on Russia. And during the last two years, Azerbaijan has been trying step by step in all directions to strengthen its victory and negotiating positions in the future reconciliation agreement, if there is one. Azerbaijan is trying to come out more victorious than it was during the tripartite agreement of November 9.
- What fundamental principles of human rights does the Azerbaijani side violate with this way of working?
- It violates all fundamental rights. Starting with the right of movement, and ending with the right to safety and life. But in the case of Azerbaijan, it is not appropriate to talk about human rights, because that country violates the rights of its citizens, and elections are not held there. That country is a totalitarian dictatorial country. And their attitude is natural, because for many years, especially during the administration of Aliyev Jr., anti-Armenianism, and Armenian hatred has been propagated at the state level. And in this context, talking about human rights is not very appropriate.
- Why is there no proper response from the international human rights protection structures, and what can these structures change in the current situation?
- The cases are still developing. To react, they must first get information about the incidents and analyze them. I am sure that there will be reactions from human rights defenders and other international structures and states. The problem is how Armenia will be able to capitalize on these reactions, will it be able to use them to its advantage? On September 13, when the Azerbaijanis started a large-scale war against the Republic of Armenia, the reactions were very intense. Azerbaijan was forced to stop the fire, but the Armenian side was not able to use them for its interests. The West was already involved here: USA, France. The events were developing very quickly, they were already talking about the fact that by the end of the year there should be a document that will put an end to the shootings and the war. We are talking about a possible reconciliation agreement, which went out of circulation because the Armenian side refused the offered assistance and returned to the Russian plan, according to which the Artsakh issue remains on the agenda and continues to play a decisive role in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations. Based on this, Aliyev decided to solve this problem once and for all. They are experimenting now, and in the future, these experiments may become reality.
- The USA and France call on Azerbaijan to restore the free movement of Artsakh citizens through the Lachin Corridor. Can these exhortations restrain Azerbaijan?
- I think that if there were no international structures or powerful Western actors, Azerbaijan could take more serious steps. Of course, they have a deterrent role and will deter. But I cannot say how much pressure will be against them. In any case, the example of September 13 gives hope that this pressure can be great.
Hayk Magoyan
