Azerbaijan's Actions Against the People of Artsakh Are Becoming More Threatening: Artsakh MFA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh has issued a statement regarding the complete closure of the Lachin corridor, which we present below:

"On June 15, the Azerbaijani side deliberately provoked a disturbance on the Hakari bridge, completely blocking all humanitarian passenger and freight transport through the Lachin corridor in both directions. As a result of Azerbaijan's actions, the scheduled medical evacuation of patients from Artsakh to Armenia has been disrupted, and the transport of passengers based on urgent humanitarian needs along the Stepanakert-Goris-Stepanakert route, with the mediation of Russian peacekeepers, has been canceled. The movement of Russian peacekeepers' cargo vehicles headed to Goris for delivering humanitarian supplies to Artsakh has also been halted.

The complete blockade of the Lachin corridor, which has been used exclusively for humanitarian purposes under severely restricted conditions due to the illegal blockade of Artsakh lasting more than six months, once again demonstrates that Azerbaijan grossly violates its international obligations and ignores fundamental norms of international law, including the legally binding decision of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations.

In fact, the checkpoint unlawfully established in the Lachin corridor is being used by Azerbaijan exclusively as a tool for continuing its ethnic cleansing policy against the people of Artsakh. It is evident that Azerbaijani authorities, continuing their policy aimed at the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh and the expulsion of its people from their homeland, which is implemented through the creation of unbearable living conditions, including the prolonged blockade of Artsakh initiated by so-called eco-activists, the establishment of Azerbaijani control over the Lachin corridor, and other illegal actions, have decided to resort to new provocations aimed at tightening the blockade and isolating the people of Artsakh from the outside world, depriving them of even limited movement and the possibility of transporting humanitarian supplies through the Red Cross and Russian peacekeepers.

In the context of the impunity regarding the ethnic cleansing policy against the people of Artsakh and the absence of decisive measures from the international community, Azerbaijan's actions are becoming more menacing. To prevent new atrocities and crimes against the people of Artsakh, Azerbaijan's similar illegal and aggressive steps must receive an appropriate political response from the international community and, first and foremost, from all parties involved in the process.

We reiterate that the prevention of mass violations of human rights, including ethnic cleansing and genocides, is the obligation of all members of the international community."