Aliyev organizes ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh - U.S. Senator

YEREVAN, September 15. /ARKA/. “President Aliyev says he’s not organizing ethnic cleansing but that’s exactly what he’s doing. By leveraging humanitarian aid, he aims to either coerce the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) into political submission or starve them to death.,” Bob Menendez, head of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Thursday at a Senate hearing  on the crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, with witness Yuri Kim, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs..

Senator Menendez referred to former International Criminal Court Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo’s Expert Opinion, where he stated that “starvation is the invisible genocide weapon. Without immediate dramatic change this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks.”

“Our message from the highest levels must be unequivocal,” emphasized Senator Menendez. “Stop the blockade. Stop threatening the people of Nagorno-Karabakh. Stop threatening Armenia. Open the Lachin Corridor immediately. Uphold the commitments Azerbaijan itself made in the November 2020 ceasefire. We must stand up for peace, security, and the defense of human rights.”

He underscored that “talk is worthless when one participant in those talks is carrying out a campaign of ethnic cleansing.”

State Department Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Yuri Kim said in turn that the United States will not countenance any action or effort—short-term or long-term—to ethnically cleanse or commit other atrocities against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.

“In the context of any peace discussions, we have made clear that the rights and security of the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh must be protected. This is an essential element of any durable and dignified peace agreement. Azerbaijan must provide internationally verifiable assurances of respect for their rights and their ability to remain in their homes and live without fear,” Yuri Kim said.

She said that the U.S. has been working intensely over the past months to address the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“We have consistently said the corridor must be open to commercial, humanitarian, and private traffic. We have conveyed this message both publicly and privately to all levels of the government of Azerbaijan on numerous occasions,” the State Department official said.

"I want to be clear about a critical issue: the United States will not countenance any action or effort—short-term or long-term—to ethnically cleanse or commit other atrocities against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. The current humanitarian situation is not acceptable," Yuri Kim added. -0-