"What happened to us is very difficult. We defended ourselves and fought back, but the odds were against us. We stood completely alone, without Armenia's help, with the world completely indifferent to our fate, facing a Muslim country of 10 million people, Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, a Muslim country of 80 million people." So says David Babian, former foreign minister of the Armenian autonomy in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Babian, who lives in the city of Stepanakert, the capital of the autonomy that announced its disarmament today after less than 48 hours of fighting against the Azeri army, tells of a very difficult situation on the ground. "More than 10,000 people have fled villages in the war zones. The Azeri army has already entered some of the settlements and people are afraid to return to them. Thousands are gathered at the Russian army base north of Stepanakert and fear what the future will bring," he said.
Babian. "Afraid of ethnic cleansing", photo: from Facebook
Babian mentions the sad situation in which the residents of the region find themselves, saying: "We have no electricity or running water and very little food and medical equipment. We have a lot of people injured in the bombings, a lot of civilians, children and the elderly who were injured in attacks on residential areas. There are also a lot of fatalities."
Results of Azeri bombing of Stepanakert, photo: Reuters
"Now what is left for us is to negotiate in the hope of good conditions to preserve our future. But honestly, I don't see any future for the Armenian population in Artsakh (the Armenian name for Nagorno-Karabakh) under Azerbaijani rule. And I'm not the only one, many of my friends and neighbors think so. We fear real ethnic cleansing, as has happened many times in Armenian history," the former official said in a fragmented phone call. "The Azeri state is an entity whose national religion is rife with hatred of Armenians, and as so often in history, this could result in ethnic cleansing."
Russian peacekeepers evacuate ethnic Armenians from Karabakh | Reuters
Babian wanted to convey a message to the people of Israel: "The Jewish people and the Armenian people suffered a similar fate of persecution, oppression and genocide. I call on the citizens of Israel to do everything they can to prevent the continuation of this fate from the Armenian people and the residents of your country."
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