Azerbaijan keeps the Lachin corridor closed and cuts the gas for Artsakh

For already the third day Azerbaijan keeps the Lachin corridor closed. Baku calls "groundless" the "accusations" of the Armenian Foreign Ministry about closing the Lachin Corridor and creating a humanitarian disaster. 

Opposing the statement issued by the RA MFA yesterday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan declares that the calls to create an international mechanism to ensure the rights and security of Armenians in Karabakh are unacceptable, because "the issue of the rights and security of Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan is an internal matter of Azerbaijan."

"Karabakh is an inseparable part of Azerbaijan, and the rights and security of the population living there will be guaranteed by the laws and Constitution of Azerbaijan," official Baku announced.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also categorically denied the accusations that it has anything to do with closing the only road connecting Armenia and Karabakh. The Azerbaijani side claims that "the Shushi-Lachin road was closed not by Azerbaijani protesters, but by the Russian peacekeeping mission, which was temporarily stationed in the territory of Azerbaijan."

The message also states that "Azerbaijan is ready to meet all the needs of the local population, and Armenia's grievances have no basis."

It should be noted that these claims were also confirmed by Hikmet Hajiyev, the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, adding that Baku's goal is to completely close the mines operating in the territory of Artsakh.

Over 1100 citizens of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) are unable to return home after Azerbaijan blocked the Lachin Corridor.

Among those stranded are 270 children separated from their families. Over 200 – mostly women and children – are accommodated in Goris.

Most of 1100 are accommodated in Yerevan. Those stranded are people who were visiting Yerevan for treatment, children who arrived to watch the Junior Eurovision 2022 together with their teachers, dance ensembles who were returning from international competitions, and even official delegations, according to the Representation of Artsakh in Armenia.

Goris Deputy Mayor Irina Yolyan told ARMENPRESS that Mayor Arush Arushanyan maintains constant contact with colleagues in Stepanakert to swiftly resolve all issues.

The Azerbaijani company "Azerigaz" issued a message stating that the Azerbaijani side has nothing to do with the termination of the gas supply in Artsakh.

"Undoubtedly, it is aimed at misleading the international community and pushing the international public opinion in the wrong direction," the message said.

The company noted that gas supply in the territory of the Republic of Artsakh is carried out by Armenia and it is not integrated into the gas supply system of Azerbaijan.

"In the coming days, a technical inspection will be carried out in the section passing through the territories controlled by Azerbaijan. As it is known, due to cold weather conditions, there are disruptions of the gas pipeline in other mountainous and foothill regions of Azerbaijan. In general, conducting a technical inspection is considered as one of the steps designed to ensure a stable and safe gas supply," the message states.

As a result of Azerbaijan's blocking of the road connecting Artsakh with Armenia and the gas supply, scheduled surgeries have been temporarily stopped in the medical facilities operating under the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan.

There is currently no shortage of drugs and medical supplies needed for first aid in medical facilities. At the moment, 11 medical patients are in the intensive care unit at the "Republican Medical Center", 2 of which are in extremely serious condition.

There are medical facilities that are heated with diesel fuel (there is no problem at the moment, but supplies are scarce), but there are also medical facilities that use electric heaters as a result of the gas supply being blocked.
The Ministry of Health of the Republic of Azerbaijan is taking all possible measures to properly overcome the situation.

The blockade of Artsakh and the cutting of gas supply is a very clear manifestation of the Azerbaijani genocidal policy, which has its assessment by international law, Advisor to the State Minister of Artsakh Artak Beglaryan told reporters while he was doing a sit-in outside the UN Office in Yerevan.

According to him, an urgent reaction to this is the obligation of the UN Security Council, the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

“I am starting a sit-in outside the UN Office in Armenia with different demands and calls, but the main demand is directed to the international community, first of all, to the UN so that they take concrete actions to protect the security and rights of the people of Artsakh, including to eliminate the Azerbaijani blockade at this moment, but also to ensure long-term international guarantees”, Beglaryan said.

Beglaryan said the United Nations is the only organization that has the capacity, and mechanisms to give a concrete mandate to particular countries to carry out peacekeeping activities, as well as it has the authority and obligation to protect the security and rights of different nations if they are violated.

The work of the Pashinyan-Putin-Aliev meeting is agreed upon. it is possible to have an informal meeting - Peskov

The work of agreeing on a tripartite meeting between the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan Vladimir Putin, Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev continues, but at least they can talk informally within the framework of the unofficial summit of the leaders of the CIS countries. This was announced by the press spokesman of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov.

"You know that an informal meeting of the leaders of the CIS member states is planned, where the three leaders will have the opportunity to speak. How it will turn out, the work is still in progress," said Peskov.

Other News

• A protest action of the RPA against Azerbaijan's blockade of Artsakh took place near the government building. The third president of RA, Serzh Sargsyan, was also present at the meeting.

• The Dutch parliament adopts a resolution by an overwhelming majority of votes on the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.

• The Foreign Ministry of Cyprus calls on Azerbaijan to immediately restore traffic and energy supply in Nagorno-Karabakh․

• The ministerial meeting started at the UN Security Council - Ararat Mirzoyan will make a speech.