On December 12, the Stepanakert-Goris highway was blocked by an Azerbaijani group of alleged “environmentalists” and “journalists”, breaking every rule of international law as well as the provisions of the trilateral declaration of November 9, 2020 on the cessation of all military actions in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). As of this writing, the highway remains blocked. These provocative measures, which are directly organized by the Baku dictatorship, are intended to carry out well-thought-out plans to forcibly annex Artsakh to its territory and depopulate it of its ethnic Armenian inhabitants.
Following November 9, 2020, Azerbaijan has frequently targeted Armenian settlements, killed and harassed the peaceful populace, and otherwise violated its own terms of the Trilateral Declaration. The Republic of Artsakh is a responsible state that complies with international law, so the demands and actions of environmentalists are unjustified given that there has been no environmental threat to the nearby Azerbaijani regions and its inhabitants.
Further, Azerbaijan has consistently used its military to cut off the natural gas supplies to Artsakh, depriving the populace of heating in the frigid winters of the region. Not only does the international community fail to condemn these gross violations of human rights, it lauds Azerbaijan for its reliable energy partnership with the EU.
Azerbaijan now holds every single resident of Artsakh hostage through this humanitarian crisis as a part of its ongoing campaign to ethnically cleanse the region of its indigenous Armenian population. These actions by Azerbaijan are in flagrant violation of every norm of international law and we urge the implementation of swift sanctions against the Aliyev regime.
Armenian Council of America
Armenian Council of Europe
12/15/2022
