We Demand Humanitarian Air Corridor Be Provided for Us, Says Ruben Vardanyan

The State Minister of the Republic of Artsakh, Ruben Vardanyan, has given interviews to international media, discussing the situation created by Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh.

In an interview with Swedish National Radio, responding to questions regarding environmental reasons provided by Azerbaijan for the closure of the corridor and the violation of the trilateral statement from November 9, 2020, Ruben Vardanyan noted that Azerbaijan's claims do not sound credible to anyone, as it is well-known worldwide that nothing happens under the "responsibility of environmentalists" in an authoritarian country.

"Can you recall how many ecological protests have taken place in Azerbaijan in the last 10 years?" he questioned. "We do not have mechanisms in Artsakh to exert pressure on a country that signed a document affirming the right to free access through the corridor, and today it is violating it. We demand that the international community provide us with the opportunity for a humanitarian air corridor so that we can bring food and essential goods. However, Azerbaijan does not allow this either. Therefore, we perceive this as a state policy, a clear government stance that shows they want to oust us from here and carry out ethnic cleansing to acquire Artsakh without Armenians."

In an interview with the British publication Byline Times, Ruben Vardanyan outlined the situation caused by the blockade in Artsakh. The State Minister said he is among the 5,000 residents of Artsakh who have been separated from their families this Christmas: "We have been under this blockade for twenty-four days. There is already a shortage of basic foodstuffs and goods. For the first time in my life, I am away from my family during Christmas. Essentially, we are hostages of Azerbaijan as long as the road remains closed."

Referring to the State Minister's appeal to the international community to impose sanctions against Azerbaijan if the blockade continues, the article notes that the current situation in Ukraine has thrown the West into Azerbaijan's "embrace," driven by desperate search for energy security. "By blocking the Lachin corridor, Aliyev once again signals that he seeks total control over a territory that Armenians consider part of their heritage, religion, culture, and historical identity."