Lawyer Roman Yeritsyan, responding to statements made by Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arsen Torosyan about 11 people who recently left Artsakh, wrote on Facebook that “Karabakh is not Azerbaijan, and those leaving it are forcibly deprived of their homeland.”

“Karabakh is not Azerbaijan, and someone leaving Artsakh is not being relocated because they are forcibly stripped of their homeland.

We left Artsakh not out of choice, but through silence, hunger, and fear. We left our homes not by decision, but because you put us before a massacre and left no alternative.

We didn’t leave behind just buildings. We left behind memories. Not just the land, but our childhood. Not just addresses, but our identity.

Karabakh is not Azerbaijan. And no matter how much you try to reframe it, Artsakh will always remain our homeland in our hearts,” Yeritsyan wrote.

Torosyan had previously stated: “Ten Armenians and one Russian-born Armenian citizen who had been living in the Republic of Azerbaijan (Karabakh) have applied to both Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities with a request to relocate to the Republic of Armenia. Based on their applications, the individuals have been transferred to Armenia.”

On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale offensive against Artsakh, subjecting the entire region to intense shelling. A day later, on September 20, the authorities of the Republic of Artsakh accepted a Russian peacekeeping proposal for a ceasefire, agreeing to Baku’s terms, which included disbanding the Artsakh Defense Army and dissolving the Republic. The attack resulted in the deaths of 223 people, including 20 civilians, 6 of them children. From September 24, a wave of forced displacement began, with over 100,000 people fleeing to Armenia. According to some reports, only about 20 Armenians remained in Artsakh.