Azernews.Az

Qabil Ashirov

Read more

Separatists in Garabagh under the auspices of Yerevan tirelessly undergo to make the world to believe in their far-fetched scenario of a humanitarian crisis in Garabagh. Despite making more sweats, they have not been able to demonstrate any proof of starvation, so far. On the contrary, social media is alive with photos of Armenians living in luxury and abundance in Khankendi and adjacent cities, while Armenian propaganda media and politicians, together with their Western mouthpieces, circulate empty shelves of supermarkets and the lines of people queueing for bread on the media.

Reading Armenian media and discussions of the Armenian minority in Garabagh on social media, it became clear that there is a deliberately-caused deficit in Garabagh. More precisely, for achieving their ambitious goal, Armenian politicians together with the separatist gang in Garabagh purposefully make people starve.

Previously, Armenian blogger Roman Bagdasaryan accused the separatist leaders of appropriating products, sent to the residents like cigarettes and so on, together with the ICRC, and selling them in a black market in Khankendi. It is worth noting that Roman is not the only person who accuses the separatists of the deliberately-caused crisis. Also, local residents of Khankendi complain that ICRC members and Russian Peacekeepers together with separatists make crooked money by selling needed products on the black market. Finally, Azerbaijani Border Servicemen approved all rumors about the above-said by detecting the smuggling of unreported products committed by ICRC members on July 11, 2023.

Besides, separatist leaders made a fuss about not having meat and other products. But when the pressure on the clique in Khankendi reached culmination, suddenly they announced the sale of extra meat and bakery in markets in Khankendi. Of course, the social media burst with discussions and protests about whence they had got the products if Garabagh was under "siege".

In addition, on September 5, in an interview with an Armenian media outlet a social and political figure of so-called artsakh, Arshak Abrahamyan said that he had not seen any family members of the separatist leaders standing in queues. More detailed, he admitted that the people in power in Garabagh have everything unlike ordinary residents.

Moreover, last month, one leader of separatists told the international media that the world would put pressure on Azerbaijan when people would start to die of starvation. Later, in an interview with local Armenian media, a journalist and ardent propagandist of separatists Eric Hacopian regretted that no one died of starvation in Garabagh so that Armenians could get an upper hand against Azerbaijan.

To top it off, the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) convoy loaded with flour to the residents of Khankend on August 29, 2023. The provocateurs linked with the separatist elements blocked the Aghdam-Khankendi road and did not allow the convoy to reach the destination. However, it has been waiting on the road for 8 days and today Amenian mass media announced that from tomorrow, all bakeries will sell bread with coupons issued by so-called republic and nobody can consume more than 200g of bread per day in Garabagh. The separatist group that persistently refuses to take flour from the ARCS, substantiates its decision with the deficit of flour. In other words, the separatists under the patronage of Yerevan, deliberately cause starvation in Garabagh, so that people suffer from malnutrition, and even die, and they could use it as a tool to pressure Azerbaijan.

British journalist and political scientist, Neil Watson says that the remains of the unrecognised and illegal Armenian entity in Garabagh are violating the human rights of their own people to make political capital.

"They wish to paint a picture for the world’s media that Garabagh is under siege from Azerbaijan. Armenia and its supporters (Russia and Iran) are desperate to suffocate the peace process before it can develop. The Armenians simply don’t care about their own people and any Garabagh Armenians who die through malnutrition will be hailed as ‘martyrs’," Neil Watson told in a comment for AZERNEWS.

He pointed out that the problem is that mass media is deeply superficial and riven with Islamophobia and Turcophobia. Details of an alleged ‘siege’ conform to many stereotypes and it is easy for reporters who are either biased or covering vast geographies to willfully or purposefully believe and propagate the Armenian narrative. He emphasized that this is, of course, amplified by the misinformation circulated via virtually unregulated social media.

"Depriving any person or group of food and nutrition for any reason is, naturally, against basic human rights. I would hope that, once the peace treaty is finalised, that the leaders of the illegal Armenian entity in Garabagh will be brought to account in the International Criminal Court and punished for this and other crimes against humanity. This policy is reminiscent of Stalin’s deliberately-caused famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1931-32 and others in China under Mao Tse-Tung. Causing a famine for one’s own people is a hallmark of a desperate and inhumane dictatorship," he added.

He urged that the way to stop the separatists from enacting this inhumane action is literally to dismantle the junta in Garabagh. Azerbaijan is being extremely careful, allowing the remnants of the illegal Armenian separatists in Garabagh to remain in place until a peace treaty is signed.

"But this obstreperous and inhumane policy is impacting the peace process. Maybe now is the time to arrest the separatists who are on Azerbaijani sovereign territory for their crimes, show the mettle of Azerbaijan to Armenia and its supporters and imbue the peace process with refreshed momentum," Neil Watson said.

---

Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz