“This is a humanitarian catastrophe and terrorism. It cannot be called otherwise. This is not only the explosion of the gas pipeline and the installation of a valve by Azerbaijan. This is how Azerbaijan treats us, how it humiliates us, and how it exerts psychological pressure. We must counteract this,” said a resident of Artsakh at a peaceful rally in the capital of Artsakh, Stepanakert, on March 24.
The women and children of Artsakh were holding a peaceful rally with posters reading “Artsakh is my home,” “Aliyev is a terrorist,” and “Stop the terrorism of Azerbaijan” against the terrorist acts of Azerbaijan. After disrupting the gas supply to Artsakh, Azerbaijan made demands. The woman announced, “Let’s understand that Azerbaijan is playing its game, and we should not play by its rules. Our strength is in our unity. Today there are about 300 people, but we hope that next time we will be a hundred times more and we will show our unity to the world. The world should know that we are here, we live here.
There is a lot of talk today about Ukraine, about Ukrainian children. The international community pays attention to them, speaks about them loudly, and we must speak about ourselves, because the international community turns a blind eye. Gasoline and fuel obscure their eyesight. Let’s try to say to ourselves that we, Armenians, live on our land, and we are not going to leave. We will live only here.”
The woman called on the citizens of Artsakh to send messages on all possible social networking platforms that Armenians live in Artsakh and will live ․ “We hope there will be no need for such gatherings, but if there is a need to unite again, we call to unite for the sake of Artsakh, to prove to the world that we exist. Maybe in that case the world will support us.”
Artsakh resident Ellada Ghahramanyan also stated, “The people of Artsakh, regardless of the weather and living conditions, are always the owners of their rights. It is unfortunate that after the war we still do not see any support from the international organization, except for calls and exhortations. The people of Artsakh are already doing great heroism by living in Artsakh. All international organizations, based on humanitarian principles, should not take urgent but concrete steps, as Azerbaijan has stated that this humanitarian catastrophe is its doing.”
The woman stressed that there is a humanitarian catastrophe in Artsakh, and the world is aware of its culprit, but does not take any steps. It is only showing concern. “Azerbaijan will use the opportunity, and it is expected that we will be in a worse situation. We have the same rights as all the citizens of the world. The UN Convention stipulates that terrorist acts against the population are inadmissible, while right now we are in a desperate situation due to the Azerbaijani aggression. It is a pity that there is no structure that will force the aggressor to put an end to these atrocities. We own our land, we demand that all international organizations take immediate steps. This is also our security issue. Tomorrow, the next day, it will reach the electricity and water.
Artsakh is not Azerbaijan, and it will never be. Whether it is Turkey or Azerbaijan, let them not think that they can oppress the people of Artsakh or evict Artsakh. Our children deserve to live in a safe Artsakh. This is a life-and-death struggle for the rights of the people of Artsakh, for the sake of the future of Artsakh and its children.”
Luiza Sukiasyan
