Gegham Stepanyan, human rights defender of the Republic of Artsakh, informs that the Azerbaijani side is deliberately obstructing the entry of citizens of the Republic of Armenia registered in the Republic of Artsakh at the checkpoint illegally installed on the Hakari bridge of the Goris-Stepanakert highway (Berdzori road).

“These people went to the Republic of Armenia for treatment under the blockade, and now, having resolved their health problems, they can no longer return home. It should be noted that the Azerbaijani side authorized their exit from Artsakh, arbitrarily and illegally prohibiting their entry.

As a result of the harassment by the Baku authorities, the rights of these people have been violated not only to move freely, but also to be reunited with their families. The human rights defender stresses that since April 23, the checkpoint illegally installed by Baku on the Hakari bridge on the Berdzor road and other measures impeding the free movement of people, vehicles and goods on this road violate not only well-known international human rights standards, but also the provisions of the Tripartite Declaration of November 9, 2020, in particular point 6, which provides for the safe and uninterrupted movement of people, vehicles and goods on the Berdzor road. 

The cases recorded prove once again the bankruptcy of the Baku government’s state propaganda and Baku’s policy of systematic and organized ethnic cleansing against the people of Artsakh,” the message states. 

The government of Western Armenia recalls at every opportunity the genocidal and ethnic cleansing policy of the Turkish authorities and Baku, which has a centuries-old history and it was after the genocide perpetrated by Turkey against the Armenians that the term Genocide entered international law in 1951 following the long efforts of Raphael Lemkin. We call on States and international organizations to unite their efforts in the policy against the above-mentioned States. We must always remember that genocide and ethnic cleansing are reprehensible crimes, whose impunity will give rise to new crimes by genocidal authorities.