Foreign Ministry: Blockage of Lachin Corridor Planned in Advance by Azerbaijan to Create Humanitarian Crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh

YEREVAN — On December 14, at the Foreign Ministry of Armenia, Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Mnatsakan Safaryan and the Deputy Foreign Minister Vahe Gevorgyan held a meeting with the heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Armenia and the representatives of international structures.

During the meeting, the humanitarian situation since December 12, following Azerbaijan’s blockage of the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, was presented to the foreign diplomats.

In his remarks, Acting Foreign Minister Mnatsakan Safaryan noted that Azerbaijan’s actions in recent days, including a number of similar incidents in the Lachin corridor, continuous violations of the ceasefire regime, disruption of gas supply to Nagorno-Karabakh clearly demonstrate that the blockage of the Lachin Corridor has been planned in advance by the authorities of Azerbaijan and is aimed at creating a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

It was emphasized that the operations of the Azerbaijani side are nothing but a gross violation of the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2022, particularly of the Point 6 of the Statement. In this context, the urgency of a targeted response by the international community to Azerbaijan’s actions was highlighted – a measure to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Nagorno-Karabakh and ethnic cleansing of Artsakh Armenians.

Mnatsakan Safaryan also highlighted the imperative of withdrawing Azerbaijani armed forces from the sovereign territory of Armenia, as well as addressing the humanitarian issues resulting from the 44-day war, including the repatriation of Armenian prisoners of war and civilians illegally held in Azerbaijan.

Deputy Foreign Minister Vahe Gevorgyan noted that with such actions aimed at creating a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan grossly violates international law, human rights and humanitarian law and demonstrates that the issue of security and rights of the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh cannot be an internal matter of Azerbaijan, and a real dialogue between Stepanakert and Baku is impossible without an international mechanism. He underlined that such actions of Azerbaijan disrupt the efforts of the Armenian side towards establishing stability and peace in the region.