It is the only transport artery linking Armenia and the pro-Armenian enclave on Azerbaijani territory. Baku affirms that the blockade is carried out by environmental groups. Yerevan calls for the intervention of Russian peacekeepers. The Armenians resort to the international court of the UN.
Moscow () – Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan has declared that the continuation of the blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan makes it essential to create an international investigative mission. That highway is the only transport artery connecting Armenia with the unrecognized republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, a pro-Armenian enclave on Azerbaijani territory.
The blockade has now lasted for almost a month and there are no signs that Baku has any intention of easing the pressure, as Pašinyan observed. That is why the Armenians expect “more concrete and specific steps” from the international community, in particular from Russia, which has promised to guarantee movement through the corridor with its own peacekeeping forces. This is one of the points of the trilateral agreement signed on November 9, 2020 by the presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan, which was confirmed on January 11 and November 26, 2021 and further specified at the Prague quadrilateral meeting of the October 6, 2022.
At the end of December, Armenia even appealed to the UN international court to force Azerbaijan to unblock the pass. The request notes that around 120,000 ethnic Armenians live in Nagorno-Karabakh, lacking essential supplies and medicines. Reference is also made to the application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as confirmed by the same court.
According to the official Azeri version, the road to Nagorno-Karabakh has been blocked since December 12 due to “protest actions by ecological activists, who are taking action against the illegal exploitation of natural resources.” They ask to be allowed access to the Gyzylbulag gold mine and the Demirl copper and molybdenum mine, where they claim that Armenians are extracting illegally. Yerevan insists on the increasingly dramatic humanitarian situation of the local population due to the actions organized by Baku.
On December 27, Russian President Putin discussed the Lachin issue with Pašinyan in Saint Petersburg, following accusations that Russia had failed to fulfill its commitment to control. The Kremlin reiterated that peacekeepers can act to resolve the situation, but only if both sides agree and, in any case, Moscow “is seriously concerned” about the turn of events.
Russian Defense Minister Šojgu confirmed that he was in continuous contact with Armenians and Azerbaijanis on the ground, trying to reopen the passage to means of transport, which in reality has only happened for a few ambulances and two or three trucks in the road between Stepanakert and Goris.
The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Nagorno-Karabakh National Assembly, Vagram Balayan, explained that the Azerbaijanis continue to make maximalist demands without granting any form of compromise. Since he does not want to recognize “the existence of Nagorno-Karabakh and the people of Artsakh”, Baku places continuous impositions on the representatives of the breakaway republic, but we “can only discuss with them on an equal footing”, says Balayan. “The Azerbaijanis don’t really want any negotiations, they just want to wipe us off the map.” Contacts with Azerbaijan, although not officially, are in charge of the Secretary of the Stepanakert Security Council, Vitalij Balasanyan.
Karabakh Armenians insist that the “ecological” claims about the exploitation of the mines are completely artificial, since they are private companies that are not owned by either Azerbaijanis or Armenians. As Balayan assures, “it is not activists or students who are blocking the road, it is an action organized directly by the leaders of Baku”, who will reopen the corridor that the Azeris call “Zangezur” only when all the Armenians in the area are evacuated or deported.
Azerbaijan considers that the recourse to the UN is “yet another provocation of Armenia against the territorial integrity of our country.” However, Yerevan is only asking that at least one humanitarian mission be allowed under the auspices of the United Nations, until the matter is cleared up in high places.
