Question:<\/strong><\/a> \u201cThere are Armenian POWs in the jails of Azerbaijan for four years by now, and there are Armenian local politicians from Nagorno-Karabakh again in the prisons of Azerbaijan for nearly one year after Azerbaijan launched another unprovoked attack last fall. According to Freedom House, after Karabakh territory came under Azerbaijani control, Karabakh is the most unfree territory in the world. It\u2019s worse than North Korea. It\u2019s worse than Venezuela, Syria, Afghanistan, you name it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThis is the first part of the question. The person addressing the question claims that \u201cthere are Armenian POWs in the jails of Azerbaijan\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are there any?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not of course! Because all POWs captured during the 44-day war of 2020 were returned to Armenia! Thus, Azerbaijan does not have any single Armenian POW at its disposal\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But why does Armenian propaganda claim that Azerbaijan has the Armenian POWs?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is purely for propaganda purposes! Armenians know that they need to bring this issue to the attention of the world in a way where people can think that Azerbaijan is so inhumane and keeps POWs. Of course, many million people around the world do not know the realities in the region. Even most of them don\u2019t know where Armenia is, who Armenians are, and so on. But propaganda works anyway\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then this very \u201cjournalist\u201d quotes the Freedom House claiming that \u201cKarabakh is the most unfree territory in the world. It\u2019s worse than North Korea. It\u2019s worse than Venezuela, Syria, Afghanistan\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are we surprised?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because this very Freedom House is a propaganda tool as well to suppress new emerging democracies. This organization has been known for its pro-Armenian stance for dozens of years! It was and is supporting Armenian separatism while being silent about more than 250 thousand Azerbaijanis forcefully expelled from Armenia and those 750 thousand IDPs forced off from Karabakh by Armenian occupants!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just for a reminder, starting from 1988 Armenia expelled all Azerbaijanis from its territory. Hundreds of Azerbaijanis were killed, and their homes were looted by Armenians. This move served as the start of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict back in those years. Then Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands early in the 1990s and forced out 750 thousand inhabitants! Azerbaijan managed to free its lands from Armenia\u2019s occupation only after 30 years and during this movement, Armenian inhabitants (approximately 70 thousand people) voluntarily left Karabakh while Azerbaijan repeatedly asked them to stay\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So why the Freedom House is claiming that Karabakh is the most unfree territory? Those 750 thousand Azerbaijanis need to return to Karabakh but can\u2019t because Armenians have wiped off any single home in that territory. That\u2019s why very few people live there and there can\u2019t be any evolution regarding freedoms in that area. The lands freed from Armenian occupation are covered with landmines and even it\u2019s dangerous to walk around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s see why and how the Freedom House decided that \u201cKarabakh is worse than North Korea\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maybe because the Freedom House\u2019s Vice President for Policy and Advocacy is Annie Wilcox Boyajian, whose husband is an Armenian for example?..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This was the first part of the question of blackmailing Azerbaijan. But a \u201cjournalist\u201d continues further with his attempt to blackmail Azerbaijan. Let\u2019s see the second part of the question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Question:<\/strong> \u201cSo the question is whether you follow this situation with the collapse of liberties and civil society in Nagorno-Karabakh, if you have any comments on this, and is there anything that this administration can do to help the detained Armenians in \u2013 that are jailed in Azerbaijan, whether to \u2013 you can help them to release \u2013 to be released or assist in any other form? Thank you\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cLiberties and civil society in Nagorno-Karabakh\u201d? Isn\u2019t this a bit strange? Who can speak about the liberties and civil society in any territory that was under the occupation of a foreign country? In our case, we speak about the Azerbaijani Karabakh region which was under Armenia\u2019s occupation for about 30 years and thus there couldn\u2019t be any sign of liberties and civil society. But this Armenian propaganda mouthpiece claims that \u201cliberties and civil society collapsed\u201d in Karabakh\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is good, Vedant Patel\u2019s answer was quite accurate, and the terms used were selected very carefully. Let\u2019s see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MR PATEL:<\/strong> \u201cSo, on the context of the broader situation in the South Caucasus, this is something that the Secretary and the department continue to be deeply engaged on. I don\u2019t have any updates for you as it relates to that process. And look, when it comes to detainees, we have been clear and consistent that any country needs to treat all detainees humanely, with dignity, and in accordance with international law, and needs to respect detainees\u2019 human rights, and that continues to be true in this case as well\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n