Armenian, Azerbaijani, Turkish government sword of Damocles over Armenian people - Larisa Alaverdyan

ArmInfo. The first ombudsman of Armenia, public and political figure Larisa Alaverdyan believes that the occupation of Artsakh will be temporary.

"I believe that this is not a final occupation. This is a temporary  occupation, and everything does not depend on some North-South, West-East. The keys to resolving this problem, to getting out of this truly catastrophic situation are in our hands," the human rights activist said on the air of the newspaper "168 hours".

At the same time, she believes that passive diplomacy and the lack of clear positions in Armenia have resulted in a very clear position of the current government. "Apparently, the current government of Armenia serves the Azerbaijani-Turkish genocidal policy," Alaverdyan said.

The human rights activist is confident that the current situation can only be moved forward if the Armenian public finally begins an indictment against the leadership of Azerbaijan for the creation and continuation of genocide against Artsakh and the Artsakh people.

At the same time, she believes that given the reluctance of the  current Armenian authorities to take this important step, all  responsibility falls on the country's academic circles and all  Armenians. "Why? This is due to the fact that according to the  existing norms of international law, no one except the official  government or official level can file a claim to the International  Court of Justice, but not only the authorities can apply to the  International Criminal Court. This is the moment of truth to realize what Armenian society is capable of," Alaverdyan is sure, adding that civil society and the academic community should take on this responsibility.

She believes that given the inaction of the Armenian authorities, thousands of Armenians should flood the ICC with lawsuits against the regime in Azerbaijan - this should be of a mass nature and then the Court's prosecutor will be able to initiate a case. 

"By delaying, we agree to the role of a silent victim. Moreover, we encourage Azerbaijan to continue the genocide," the former ombudsman is sure, recalling the inhumane treatment of the Azerbaijani side towards Armenian prisoners of war and civilians.

At the same time, she called the current behavior of the Armenian authorities, who by their actions encourage Azerbaijani crimes against humanity, political failure.

Touching upon Azerbaijan's attempts to send 300 thousand Azerbaijanis to Armenia, Alaverdyan noted that back in 1998 she personally handed over to Ilham Aliyev a package of documents with publications in the Azerbaijani media and from Azerbaijani sources about Armenian refugees and Azerbaijanis who voluntarily left Armenia. "Even before December 7, 1988, when pogroms of Armenians were taking place in Baku, and it was then that the voluntary departure of Azerbaijanis from Armenia began, and on instructions from Azerbaijan. At that  time, 164 thousand Azerbaijanis lived in Armenia. 6 thousand lived in Yerevan, the rest in the regions," Alaverdyan noted. At the same time, she added that Aliyev's statements that Azerbaijanis should "return to their homeland" are the basis for an appeal to the ICC, due to the presence of clear territorial claims to the sovereign Republic of Armenia.

The human rights activist also added that she had handed over records that Heydar Aliyev personally forbade calling Shushi an Azerbaijani city in a book about Shushi. "Heydar Aliyev said that it was an Armenian city, another issue is that it became one of the cultural centers of Azerbaijan as the city was settled by Azerbaijanis. Heydar Aliyev forbade the publication of a book with such a name," Alaverdyan repeated. 

At the same time, she is sure that the current regime in Armenia came to power with the clear goal of surrendering Artsakh, and necessarily with great sacrifices, and then making the Republic an Azerbaijani- Turkish appendage. "I am sure that Aliyev is declaring, he first discusses with Pashinyan. There is no pressure, there is haste on the part of Armenia. What Aliyev is doing today is a peaceful seizure of Armenia, turning it into an appendage of Azerbaijan, while Baku and Ankara are competing in this," the human rights activist is sure.

Alaverdyan believes that today the governments of Armenia, Turkey and Azerbaijan are a triple alliance that hangs over the Armenian people like the sword of Damocles, and if the Armenians do not take their fate into their own hands, a catastrophe cannot be avoided. She also expressed bewilderment at the behavior of the Armenian society  against the backdrop of the absolutely lying, treacherous government of Armenia, which continues to believe this regime sacredly.

Speaking about the constitution of Azerbaijan, she noted that this document is a huge claim to the territories of neighboring states, and not only Armenia, but also Georgia, Turkey and Russia.

Alaverdyan also called the statement that the UN recognized Armenia and other Republics within the Soviet borders illiteracy, since the World Organization a priori does not have such a function. "And in the Alma-Ata Declaration it was written in black and white, the republics are recognized within their current borders - that is, on December 21, 1991. Everyone is lying, and the Europeans are lying too, speculating on this declaration. Armenia has enough maps to protect its territories," the human rights activist summed up, calling on people to read their own documents and not believe the statements of any officials at the level of Borrell.