"The humanitarian crisis in NK will be presented in the UN Security Council" - Armenian Foreign Ministry
Armenia demands Lachin corridor be opened
“Armenia will present the humanitarian crisis in NK during open discussions in the UN Security Council,” David Knyazyan, head of the multilateral policy department of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, told reporters.
He also said that Armenia will be represented at the hearings by one of the Deputy Ministers of Foreign Affairs, and the topic of discussion will be “ensuring food security in the context of conflict and eliminating hunger.” According to Knyazyan, official Yerevan is using all available tools to achieve the unblocking of the Lachin corridor. For this, steps are being taken to “increase pressure on Azerbaijan, which is already happening.”
The Prime Minister of Armenia also touched upon the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh and the deepening humanitarian crisis during the government meeting. Nikol Pashinyan called on Azerbaijan “as a step of commitment to the peace agenda to let through the humanitarian cargo of Armenia sent to NK.” We are talking about assistance from the government of Armenia, which has been idle at the border since July 26.
Employees of the UN Office in Armenia visited the border village of Kornidzor, where trucks with humanitarian aid are stationed. However, a targeted and specific assessment of the situation based on the results of the visit has not yet been made.
In Armenia, indignation over the inaction of international structures that are limited to appeals is growing. People do not expect statements, but actions to overcome the crisis. Comments of Armenian users of social networks are at the end of the article.
Details of the situation
The Armenian government has sent about 400 tons of humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh, which has been blocked since December last year. 19 trucks have been near the village of Kornidzor, near the Lachin corridor, for more than a week. On August 2, they were joined by two trucks from the Grand Candy company with sweets for the children of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Yerevan says it has asked Russian peacekeepers to deliver aid through the Lachin corridor, but has not yet received a response. Baku did not allow the humanitarian cargo to pass, declaring the initiative of the Armenian side a “provocation against the territorial integrity” of Azerbaijan.”
Since June 15, the unrecognized NKR has been under a strict blockade, Azerbaijan does not allow the supply of either food or medicines. Until recently, the International Committee of the Red Cross was allowed to transport patients in need of specialized care to Armenia.
However, since July 29, the movement of ICRC vehicles has also been restricted. On this day, 68-year-old NK resident Vagif Khachatryan, who needs urgent heart surgery, was detained at an Azerbaijani checkpoint located near the Khakari bridge. Baku accuses him “of an attack on the village of Meshali in December 1991, as a result of which civilians were killed.” Khachatryan’s daughters claim that their father worked as a driver in Soviet times and could not be the “organizer of the genocide.” Armenia declared that “detaining a person under the protection of the ICRC is a war crime.”
UN Secretary General ‘deeply concerned’
“At the moment, I can’t say anything more than what was said in the statement that was made last night and published this morning at five o’clock in the morning. We expect the published statement to lead to positive results.”
These are the words of Nanna Skau, Acting UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia, in response to questions from Armenian journalists about her opinion regarding the unblocking of the Lachin corridor and the delivery of aid to NK.
Near the village of Kornidzor, where trucks with food, baby food and medicines are idle, she only quoted the statement of the UN Secretary General.
Earlier it was reported that António Guterres was “deeply concerned about reports of problems related to freedom of movement along the Lachin corridor” and the aggravation of the humanitarian situation. The UN Secretary General called for “immediate steps to deliver humanitarian assistance to people in need.”
“The Secretary General calls on the parties to intensify their efforts for a long-term settlement of relations in the interests of security and peace in the region,” the statement said.
Armenia demands Lachin corridor be opened
“Children suffer most because of the blockade”
This opinion was expressed in an interview with journalists by Vardan Sargsyan, a representative of the working group on the settlement of the humanitarian crisis in NK, created under the Armenian government.
“Children are actually deprived not only of these sweets [in trucks idle near the village of Kornidzor], but also of daily food, not to mention the right to health care and education,” he said.
Sargsyan expects that the sweets intended for them would still be delivered in the near future, along with the rest of the cargo.
He said that trucks transporting humanitarian cargo to NK are equipped with cooling systems.
“We need to listen to the explanation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in NK”
The Prime Minister of Armenia, during a live government meeting, once again stressed that Azerbaijan is illegally blocking the import of humanitarian goods to Nagorno-Karabakh:
“Obstructing the passage of goods is a flagrant violation of the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020 and the decisions of the International Court of Justice.”
Pashinyan also mentioned the interview of the President of Azerbaijan to the Euronews TV channel, in which Aliyev said that the Lachin corridor was not blocked.
“In this regard, it is necessary to listen to the explanation of the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in NK, why they do not provide humanitarian aid to Nagorno-Karabakh, if Azerbaijan claims that it does not block the Lachin corridor,” the prime minister said.
He believes that the clarification of this issue is extremely important, and the relevant authorities should receive an answer to it.
On the Armenian-Azerbaijani talks, he said that, despite all difficulties, there is a chance to achieve a long-term, stable and lasting peace. He called on Baku to refrain from steps that reduce the chances of achieving it. As an example of such a step, he cited the detention of a patient whom the ICRC was transporting to Armenia for treatment.
“The release of Vagif Khachatri, other prisoners, hostages and detainees would be an impressive signal of commitment to the peace agenda,” he stated.
Social media comments
Recently, the following comments have been increasingly appearing in the Armenian segment of social networks:
Calls, calls again. You have been calling for 8 months now. Don’t feel sorry for people? What are you waiting for our children to starve to death?”
“The whole world values oil and gas more than human lives.”
“It turns out that all international structures are incapacitated. They can only make useless speeches.”
“If you think that Putin has become so helpless that he cannot get permission from Aliyev to send humanitarian supplies to Artsakh, then you are terribly mistaken. He needs this blockade. Karabakh Armenians are in fact hostages not so much of Aliyev as of Putin.
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Armenia demands Lachin corridor be opened
