BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 24. The content of Luis Moreno Ocampo's anti-Azerbaijani report shows strong support for Armenia's interests and creates a mixed impression, if not directly misleading, said German researcher Dr. Michael Reinhard Hess to lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo in a letter, Trend reports.
In his study, Hess discussed the real origin of the term "Artsakh," which actually has no roots in the Armenian language, and emphasized that the claims in Ocampo's report that the Karabakh region is supposedly "predominantly populated by Armenians" are also purely theoretical conclusions.
The letter notes that the use of the term "Artsakh" was not widespread among Armenians at least until 1921. This is confirmed, for example, by the declaration of the Council of People's Commissars of the Armenian SSR of June 12, 1921.
At the same time, the traditional name of this region - "Karabakh" - was historically used in various administrative and political documents and continues to be used to this day, the German researcher emphasizes.
"By conflating the historical notion of the term "Artsakh" with its introduction by Armenian nationalists in the 20th century, your contribution actually favors an Armenian national discourse that seeks to establish Armenian toponymy, demography, politics and history from the beginning of our era. However, no such connection exists," the letter reads.
Michael Reinhard Hess emphasizes that after reading Ocampo's conclusion, he had the impression that the report was based on a "single-mindedly pro-Armenian interpretation of both the historical background and the current situation".
The German researcher also refutes Ocampo's claims of an alleged "genocide" in Karabakh.
"Do you really think that in a fertile region such as Karabakh with its vast mountainous areas, where subsistence farming and herding are possible and where natural resources are plentiful, 120,000 people (the number given by Armenian sources) could die of starvation in the middle of summer? After all, as you pointed out, measures have been taken to evacuate the seriously ill from that territory. This also implies that those "starving" could have been evacuated as well. Your article lacks any evidence or indication that a 'famine' there actually exists or could threaten Armenians living in Karabakh," the researcher emphasized.
Michael Reinhard Hess also finds Ocampo's claims that the establishment of the Lachin border checkpoint could be interpreted as "a means of preparing 'genocide' unconvincing: "Plenty of countries, including the US and EU countries with external borders have similar checkpoints to prevent illegal human crossings and smuggling of goods, but no one accuses them of preparing genocide".