GENOCIDE IN THE MAKING: CATHOLICOS APPEALS TO INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OVER ARTSAKH BLOCKADE

His Holiness Catholicos Aram I has called upon the international community, including national governments, global organizations, spiritual leaders and human rights activists as well as the Armenian Diaspora to take note of the rapidly deteriorating situation in Artsakh, which Azerbaijan has blockaded since Monday, Dec. 12.

“A humanitarian crisis of historic proportions is unfolding,” His Holiness said in a statement. “The Holy See of Cilicia condemns, in the strongest possible terms, Azerbaijan’s blockade of the only road connecting Artsakh to Armenia —the Lachin Corridor. “In violation of its international commitments, Azerbaijan has blockaded the road and severed Artsakh from Mother Armenia.”

The Catholicos alerts over the genocidal intent pursued by Azerbaijan.

“We are witnessing deliberate and concrete steps toward the ethnic cleansing and genocide of the Armenian population of Artsakh,” he said. “It is a policy that Azerbaijan has pursued relentlessly since the beginning of the conflict, as evidenced by Azerbaijan’s pogroms and massacres of Armenians in Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad, and other cities.”

Immediate humanitarian action is “critical,” His Holiness said. “I call upon you to act decisively, to urge your governments to condemn Azerbaijan’s actions, to demand that sanctions be imposed against Azerbaijan, and to take all rightful action with conviction and resolve to save the people of Artsakh from imminent extermination.”