Statement of Samvel Karapetyan, President of “Tashir” Group of Companies:

“I am deeply concerned about the situation in Artsakh, where, under the pretext of obviously false goals, today Azerbaijan started a massive shelling, and the civilian population, including children, came under attack. To date, nine children have been injured in Artsakh, three of them are in operating rooms with shrapnel injuries. During these 10 months, the genocidal policy of the Azerbaijani authorities has turned into a direct threat of physical destruction for the Armenian population of Artsakh.

These actions should be properly evaluated by the world community and can be interpreted as nothing but genocide. The use of force in the region is unacceptable, the death of civilians is unacceptable, it is necessary to implement all mechanisms for the immediate de-escalation of the situation and ceasefire. Violence and weapons cannot serve as an excuse for the forced displacement of the local population.

The Russian peacekeeping contingent is the only guarantor of the region’s security, so I call on the parties to return to the negotiation process and create mechanisms to ensure the security of Artsakh citizens with the Russian side.

I am sure that the criminal policy of Azerbaijan will fail, and it will not be possible to break the people of Artsakh through the threat of blackmail, blockade or physical destruction.”