Azerbaijan Detains Citizen Transferring to Armenia via ICRC, Says Artsakh State Minister

Azerbaijan has today detained a 68-year-old citizen moving to Armenia for medical treatment through the Red Cross and has transferred the individual to another location. This information was shared by Artsakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan.

“Currently, an ICRC representative is with our citizen, but the negotiations have yet to yield any results. We are waiting for further information,” he wrote on his Facebook page.

Other citizens being transferred to Armenia were escorted by the ICRC representative from Goris to a medical facility in Goris, while the trip for returning patients to Artsakh has been canceled.

Notably, Azerbaijan has consistently sought to obstruct the transfer of patients to Armenia, even through the ICRC, repeatedly imposing new conditions on the organization. This latest action reflects an effort to instill fear among individuals about crossing the Lachin corridor, even for medical purposes.

This is a direct consequence of the Armenian authorities acknowledging Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and referring to Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, along with the growing impunity from the international community in denouncing these ongoing crimes against the Artsakh people. These developments, which must be prevented at all costs, are escalating daily.

To the Armenian people, I call once again: wake up and stand against all of this.