The issue of defending the collective rights of the people of Artsakh, including their right to return to their homeland is a strategic goal, Artsakh’s former State Minister and Human Rights Defender Artak Beglaryan said Tuesday in an interview with News.am.
“We should not allow the Armenian authorities to close this issue. It should be on the negotiating table with Azerbaijan. Without a clear position by the Armenian authorities, we will not achieve the result. They must emphasize that this does not mean territorial claims to Azerbaijan. The International Court of Justice made a relevant decision on the right of return of the Artsakh people,” Beglaryan said.
Beglaryan called the housing issue the most acute social problem for Artsakh residents.
“Based on these reasons, it is wrong to compare Artsakh residents with the residents of Armenia who are deprived of housing. Artsakh residents became displaced as a result of genocide due to the failure of Armenia to fulfill its commitments. Russia, France, the United States, and, in general, the whole international community also failed,” the former state minister explained.
“In addition, we have the status of refugees, for which Armenia has additional obligations. In our case, the source of funding is also different. Armenia should demand large sums of money from the international community to solve the social problems of the Artsakh people. Instead of that the Armenian authorities declare that they solve those problems in a spectacular way, giving a signal to the international community that there is no need for their support,” Beglaryan emphasized.
He explained that there is pressure on the Artsakh authorities from official Yerevan, saying this posturing is one of the reasons for the lack of public activity of Artsakh officials.
“This is related to different internal political fears of Armenian authorities, which becomes a reason for targeting Artsakh people and generating anti-Artsakh sentiments in the society.
Taking into account various risks, threats, and pressure, Artsakh officials behave with restraint in the public space,” Beglaryan explained.
Despite the lack of resources, which has slowed the ability for Artsakh authorities to operate, Beglaryan said there have been contacts with foreign officials. He and former Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan were recently in Washington, where they held meetings with members of Congress and participated in panels that outlined the current plight of the people of Artsakh.
Beglaryan also sounded the alarm that official Yerevan may give up pursuing the complaints against Azerbaijan in various international legal circles, if there is no tangible public resistance.
He said that the Armenian authorities are constantly making concessions to Azerbaijan without getting anything in return. The same thing happened with the Artsakh issue. “It is strange that they are not learning lessons from these mistakes,” Beglaryan said.
“We are essentially abandoning an important deterrent legal and diplomatic avenue. Azerbaijan continues its policy of hatred toward Armenians and pursues a policy of occupation against Armenia. Therefore, if we refuse to complain, Baku will continue to commit new crimes. Today’s crimes are a consequence of impunity for previous crimes. Such a decision of the Armenian authorities will support the criminal regime in Azerbaijan,” Beglaryan stressed.
The former Artsakh State Minister reminded that lawsuits have been filed against Azerbaijan both in the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.
“There is a need and possibility for filing new lawsuits with very strong factual and legal bases. As for the statements by the Armenian authorities that they will take such a step if Azerbaijan also drops its complaints, it is important to realize that these very complaints by Azerbaijan are groundless, unlike the Armenian cases. Baku filed a lawsuit to use it as a subject of political bargaining,” he explained.
He said he is actively cooperating with members of the Committee for the Protection of Fundamental Rights of the Artsakh People, headed by Armenia’s former foreign minister Vartan Oskanian.
“Active, effective co-operation is underway. I hope that the Committee will move to the stage of public activity. It is important that this Committee does not cast a shadow on Artsakh’s state institutions or take over their powers,” Beglaryan concluded.
Beglaryan announced that a rally will be held Wednesday, which will address the problems related to the needs of the people of Artsakh and will not be related to the internal political processes in Armenia.
The former state minister added that Artsakh authorities have declared their readiness to take part in the rally.
Beglaryan urged the Armenian authorities not to try to generate negative sentiments toward the people of Artsakh.
He noted that already since September 2023, “the propaganda machine of the Armenian authorities has been speculating that the Artsakh people have allegedly come to Armenia to carry out the change of power.”
In his assessment, this frankly hinders both the Artsakh people and the constructive internal political struggle in Armenia.
“It is necessary to fight for the state institutions of Artsakh to be preserved, and the Armenian authorities, as well as the international community, must reckon with them. The legitimacy of Artsakh’s state institutions must not be damaged. We will not pour water on this mill of the Armenian and Azerbaijani authorities,” Beglaryan concluded.
