ANC Deputy Chairman: Artsakh`s leadership`s release  must be a key  component of peace talks with Azerbaijan

ArmInfo. Armenia is obligated to publicly raise its voice in defense of the military-political leadership of Artsakh and make their release a mandatory requirement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani agenda for reconciliation and peace, as stated by Levon Zurabyan, Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) party of the first President of Armenia. He was addressing the accusations against Armenia regarding the Artsakh movement during the trial of Armenian prisoners of war in Baku.

The ANC Deputy Chairman attributed their political party's response  to the attacks against Armenians detained in Baku  to the fact that  Armenia currently lacks a government, as is typical of independent  states.  Zurabyan noted that the ANC expresses its unconditional  support for the former military-political leadership of Artsakh held  in Baku. Specifically, this includes Presidents Arkady Ghukasyan,  Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Speaker of the National Assembly  Davit Ishkhanyan, State Minister Ruben Vardanyan, Commander-in-Chief  of the Defense Army Levon Mnatsakanyan, his deputy David Manukyan,  Foreign Minister David Babayan, and other compatriots who, according  to Zurabyan, are being persecuted simply for exercising the right of  the people of Artsakh to self-determination.

In this context, the politician recalled that the process of  realizing the right to self-determination began because Azerbaijan  was systematically violating the fundamental rights of the  Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region and its population. He pointed out  that the Armenian population of the autonomous region was subjected  to mass violence orchestrated at the state level. He also added that  brutal military actions were carried out not only against  Nagorno-Karabakh, but against the entire Armenian population living  in Azerbaijan. In this vein, he recalled the massacres in Baku,  Sumgait, Kirovabad, and other parts of the Azerbaijani SSR.

Zurabyan further noted that the Artsakh leadership was seized  illegally, in gross violation of international norms and obligations.  Azerbaijan committed one of its gravest war crimes against the  Armenian people - the ethnic cleansing of the Armenians of Artsakh,  violating all agreements reached during the OSCE Minsk Group talks  and the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020.

He noted that all of this is occurring alongside the persecution of  its own citizens, amid the presence of more than 200 political  prisoners in the country and the widespread violation of democratic  rights.  "Azerbaijan's law enforcement agencies and courts are merely  instruments of repression, designed to implement government orders  through falsifications, violence, torture, false threats, and various  other illegal actions. Therefore, any 'document' or 'testimony'  presented during a trial, as well as any conclusion of a 'judicial'  body, will lack any credibility or legitimacy," the ANC deputy  chairman emphasized.

Zurabyan added that the ANC condemns any accusations or criticism  against the Armenian prisoners of war held hostage and tortured in  Azerbaijan, in light of their statements from Baku. "We should  absolutely not care what they say under inhumane pressure. Only their  lives, health, and safe return to their homeland matter," Zurabyan  emphasized.

He also pointed out the unacceptability of the continued silence and  inaction of the OSCE Minsk Group co- chair countries-the United  States, France, and Russia-regarding the fate of Armenian prisoners  of war.  "They should have demanded the freedom of people they have  recognized as legitimate partners in all negotiations since the  Helsinki summit in 1992 and conducted dialogue with them on behalf of  bodies representing the international community," the ANC deputy  chairman noted.

Additionally, Zurabyan stated that, of all of this, the most  unacceptable is the obvious and absolute indifference of the Armenian  authorities to the fate of the captured Artsakh leadership.  Specifically,  the Armenian authorities must make their release a  mandatory requirement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace agenda. "The  Armenian authorities must address this issue to the international  community, the Minsk Group countries, and also raise it in the United  Nations, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and the European  Parliament, demonstrating Azerbaijan's clear violation of the  inalienable right to a fair trial, guaranteed by Article 6 of the  European Convention on Human Rights," the ANC deputy chairman  concluded.