Time to see reality as it is

Time to see reality as it is - VIDEO

13:00 17 December 2022 Read: 1642

by Sabina Hasanova

The Armenian well-oiled propaganda machine has been busy cooking bogus stories about the Lachin-road events in the last couple of days. They claim that Azerbaijan has allegedly sieged the Armenians living in Karabakh in a blockade, perpetrated a humanitarian disaster, tried to commit a genocide even. Which is why, we feel it’s necessary to remind the world what the reality is.

Azerbaijan hasn’t blockaded anyone. We do not wish any harm to our Armenian citizens living in Karabakh. We have irrefutable facts that the separatists there, under the patronage of Russia, are deliberately looting the natural resources of Azerbaijan and selling them to Iran. While Azerbaijani officials arrived on spot to inspect, the separatists resisted, largely supported by the Russian peacemakers.

Following this, a group of Azerbaijani eco warriors expressed their wish to go to Khankendi to monitor the ecological situation in those deposits, whereat the Russian so-called ‘peacemakers’ blocked their way. There are thousands of viral photos and videos from the scene that show that the peacemakers were the ones to block the road.

The Azerbaijani activists simply wanted to see the situation in Khankendi first-hand without any other intentions. If the Russian peacekeepers clear the road and grant them the opportunity today, the road to Lachin will start to operate immediately.

There’s one detail we just can’t wrap our heads around. Why is it that unarmed peaceful citizens of Azerbaijan cannot go to Khankendi? There is no legal basis that says otherwise. All legal acts, particularly UN official documents, recognize Karabakh as a territory of Azerbaijan. No document does and can show to the contrary.

The Russian peacemakers are temporary guests in Karabakh, a requirement dictated by the 10 November declaration signed among the three countries. Their sole mission should be to safeguard the local Armenian population. We have no objections to that. If Armenians are in any sort of danger, the peacemakers can intervene. But they cannot take away the right of civilians to travel on the territory of their own country. They have no authority to do so. That is what we are objecting to.

I feel the following must be repeated. The Lachin road will reopen as soon as Azerbaijan gets its rights back to monitor the situation in Karabakh, which is its legal territory. That is precisely what we want more than anyone!