Vardanyan Calls for an Air Corridor to Facilitate Supplies to Artsakh

The reputable Canadian publication The Hill Times has published an extensive article on the reasons behind Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh and the resulting humanitarian crisis.

Highlighting the inhumane conditions created in Artsakh due to the blockade, the article notes that on January 25, the House of Commons' Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development held two sessions to address the issue of the Lachin corridor blockade. During these sessions, University of Windsor professor Christopher Waters characterized the blockade of humanitarian aid to Artsakh as "de facto ethnic cleansing."

The article also quotes committee members Heather McPherson and Jean-Pierre Godbout, who assert that Canada must utilize its diplomatic channels at the UN to exert pressure on Azerbaijan to open the Lachin corridor.

In an interview with the publication, Artsakh's State Minister Ruben Vardanyan also called on Canada and the international community to pressure Azerbaijan and impose sanctions on the Azerbaijani government to open the Lachin corridor. Vardanyan urged for a "humanitarian air corridor" to facilitate supplies to Artsakh.

The State Minister contested Azerbaijan's claims regarding traffic through the Lachin corridor, indicating that since December 12, only a few hundred trucks have passed through, belonging to Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"For comparison, before the blockade, between 800 to 1000 trucks entered Artsakh daily," stated Vardanyan, emphasizing that the blockade has halted the regular supply of medicine, food, fuel, and electricity.

"Our entire economy is at a standstill because we are unable to import any resources for production or export any products produced here," Vardanyan noted, adding that under the conditions of limited fuel and electricity, schools have also been forced to cease operations.

"It is unacceptable to force 30,000 children to live without food, education, or gas and electricity during winter. Azerbaijan must accept that dialogue is necessary; this cannot be resolved through military means or by subjecting 120,000 people in their homeland to ethnic cleansing," concluded the State Minister.