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Inter Milan midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan has called on world leaders to stand up against ethnic cleansing and prevent genocide from unfolding in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). Below is his statement posted on Facebook on Tuesday.

"After a ten months long blockade, on September 19th Azerbaijan’s military launched a brutal shelling of Nagorno Karabakh.

My heart breaks as I learn about the stories of trauma, loss, and severe violations of human rights of thousands of Armenian families who are being forcibly displaced from Nagorno Karabakh and flee for Armenia in a mass exodus.

The situation that people in Nagorno-Karabakh are suffering right now, brings memories from History’s darkest hours. We often look back to those dark pages of indiscriminate killings, ethnic cleansing and concentration camps with remorse, and regret that no one did enough to stop it. We cannot bring back the victims from those past atrocities, but we are still in time to prevent genocide from unfolding in Nagorno-Karabakh.

In the midst of this horror, we need immediate mobilization of emergency humanitarian aid through the Lachin Corridor and the deployment of international monitoring missions to put a stop to these crimes against humanity.

It is now urgent for international leaders to stand up against ethnic cleansing and use all possible political tools to put an end to military actions in the region.

Children have the right to live in peace in their homeland."