Your trusted source

Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of Armenophobia based on ethnic and religious grounds, whuch is clearly aimed at evicting Armenians from Artsakh and committing ethnic cleansing, Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan told a discussion on Azerbaijan’s policy of ethnic hatred and its impacts on Friday.

"Almost a year and a half has passed since the 2020 war, but Azerbaijan continues with its systematic policy of Armenophobia and eviction of Armenians from Artsakh,” he stated.

“Realizing pretty well that their policy may be assessed by international organizations as systematic xenophobia, they sometimes announce at the top level that the recorded cases are not of a systemic nature and are specific,” Stepanyan said, adding Azerbaijan thus attempts to manipulate international organizations.

According to the ombudsman, in the current situation their task is to prove that the cases are not specific, but rather part of Azerbaijan’s state-sponsored Armenophobic policies.

His comments came in the wake of Azerbaijan’s fresh provocations in Artsakh targeting civilian settlements.

The Azerbaijani troops used various caliber weapons, including mortars, to attack several villages in Artsakh in recent days.

51-year-old Suren Baghryan from Khramort village was wounded when a mortar shell fired by Azerbaijani forces landed near his house on Thursday morning.