Nersisyan: If this is how the international protection of Artsakh people's rights looks like, then we have no reliable guarantees

YEREVAN, June 19. /ARKA/. 'If this is how the international protection of Artsakh people's rights looks like, then we have no reliable guarantees,' Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan said in an interview with the Public Television of Armenia in a comment on the ongoing blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan.

Nersisyan disagreed with those international actors who, while talking about the rights of the people of Artsakh, ignore their right to self-determination.

"It is a savagery and act of terrorism when 120,000 people are starved, tortured and then told if they do not want to continue starving, to be tortured, they must agree to negotiate,'" Nersisyan said.

According to him, Artsakh authorities are not against contacts with Azerbaijan, but the possibility of the sides to exercise their rights according to international norms should be guaranteed and protected by international mechanisms, which must be convincing and trustworthy.

"Artsakh has been under siege for more than six months, Azerbaijan constantly uses force or threatens to use force against the people of Artsakh, which is cut off from natural gas and energy supplies, from receiving adequate medical care, sufficient food. The elderly, pregnant women, children and newborns are deprived of access to necessary care items and medicine," Nersisyan said. -0-