ECIR presents to your attention the article «Ethnic cleansing or last chance for survival?» by Greek City Times about the blockade of Lachin corridor that connects Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Armenia, authored by Tigran Mkrtchyan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Greece and Albania.
The author raises the issue of the humanitarian crisis around Artsakh, which can turn into a humanitarian catastrophe and ethnic cleansing: «For the last few days, 120,000 Armenian men, women, and children have remained deliberately trapped by Azerbaijan in their ancestral homeland, of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Azerbaijan has blockaded them, and they are now completely disconnected from the outside world.A human catastrophe is unfolding. On December 12, 2022, a group of Azerbaijani pseudo-environmentalists, under fabricated ecological concerns, blocked the Lachin corridor, the only remaining humanitarian lifeline that connects Artsakh to the outside world. The Azerbaijani blockade is in flagrant violation of November 9, 2020 Trilateral statement, which in no uncertain terms states: (a) the Lachin Corridor shall remain under the control of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation, b) the Republic of Azerbaijan shall guarantee safe movement of citizens, vehicles and cargo in both directions along the Lachin corridor.»
This policy has been pursued by the Azerbaijani authorities for a long time. In the Soviet period, covertly, during the collapse of the USSR in an open form, in the form of ethnic cleansing, and after moving into the phase of an aggressive war against the civilian population of Nagorno-Karabakh: «For the last 30 years, Azerbaijan has bombarded Artsakh Armenians in three wars. Three generations of Artsakh Armenians have suffered death and hardship, pogroms and massacres and continue to live under the constant threat of annihilation by Azerbaijan.But they have endured.
The Azerbaijan blockade is not an isolated act: it is part of a systematic and consistent policy aimed at ethnically cleansing Nagorno Karabakh of its indigenous Armenian population. Anti-Armenian hysteria and hate speech, and institutionalized Armenophobia, make Azerbaijan’s intentions painfully clear.
Azerbaijan is telegraphing not only its policy of ethnic cleansing, but its intent to commit another genocide against the Armenian people.»
The international community at the level of officials and representatives of international organizations made statements condemning the closure of the corridor of life, and also called for the opening of the corridor without preconditions. At the same time, concrete steps are needed by the international community aimed at preventing genocide against the people of Nagorno-Karabakh: «What is unfolding is a genocide in slow-burn. A population of more than 120,000 human beings may disappear, be completely liquidated, without anyone being held responsible. We have witnessed it happen before to Armenians, to the Greeks, to the Kurds and many others.
«The Foreign Ministry of Greece called on “Azerbaijani authorities to ensure freedom and security of movement and transport, in both directions along the Lachin corridor without any preconditions in compliance with the Tripartite Statement of November 9, 2020. Local population should be spared from hardships and distress.» Such statements and appeals to Azerbaijan were issued by the EU and the US, Canada, the Vatican, France, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Lithuania, Estonia etc. UN Security Council will discuss the matter in a special meeting. All of those statements underline that the continuation of blockade threatens to cause a humanitarian catastrophe.»
«Urgent and decisive action is needed by the international community to prevent another shocking tragedy. The civilized world and specialized international organizations must step in to stem any further escalation of the situation and save the people of Artsakh from the genocide unfolding, which they will try to oppose by a last stand for survival.»
We share the author’s point of view on the need for the intervention of the international community in order to prevent the impending catastrophe. Measures must be taken to ensure an international presence in Nagorno-Karabakh in order to ensure the security of the people of Artsakh and establish stability in the region.
Full article: Greek City Times
