Officials in Artsakh say that a group of Azerbaijanis blocked their citizens from returning home.
These 27 Artsakh citizens have been stranded in Armenia since the start of the blockade on December 12, 2022. The Russian peacekeeping force in Artsakh had negotiated their return and arranged their transportation. On the afternoon of April 4, Russian peacekeeping vehicles transporting the citizens from Goris, Armenia to Stepanakert were held up on the Lachin Corridor for five hours by a group of Azerbaijanis.
The Lachin Corridor, the sole road connecting Artsakh with Armenia and the outside world, has been blocked for nearly four months by Azerbaijanis claiming to be eco-activists. As a result, hundreds of people who were in Armenia at the start of the blockade have been separated from their families. Some have returned home with the assistance of the Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Only vehicles belonging to the Russian peacekeepers and the ICRC have been allowed to use the Lachin Corridor.
According to a report by the Office of Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan, Azerbaijanis entered one of the vehicles. Four women became distressed and fainted. They were transferred to the Stepanakert Medical Center. Three of the women have been discharged, while one remains under medical supervision. Following “fruitless negotiations” between the Russian peacekeepers and Azerbaijani protesters, the remaining 23 citizens were not allowed to enter blockaded Artsakh and returned to Goris.
Azerbaijan and Russia have not officially commented on the incident. An Azerbaijani news outlet reported that an Azerbaijani ambulance had transferred the four women in psychological distress to the Stepanakert hospital. Artsakh authorities said the women were transferred with the assistance of Russian peacekeepers.
“Today’s incident proves once again the whole essence of the false and fabricated claims of the Azerbaijani leadership, the behavior of obvious and undisguised lying and misleading the international community,” Stepanyan said.
The Artsakh Foreign Ministry said that the incident is the latest in Azerbaijan’s “practical implementation of their criminal plan to ethnically cleanse Artsakh.” It condemned the “inaction of the international community in the face of such serious violations of human rights,” calling it “tacit approval.”
While the Lachin Corridor remains closed, Azerbaijan has made several efforts in recent weeks to take control of routes around Artsakh by force.
The route of the Lachin Corridor was forcibly changed by Azerbaijan on March 30. Azerbaijani armed forces captured a road that has been used by Armenia since August 2022 to connect to the Lachin Corridor. Armenian authorities said that Azerbaijani forces also advanced into Armenia’s borders.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Artsakh said that, while Azerbaijan had blocked the road, the alternate Tegh-Kornidzor road is ready for use by the Russian peacekeepers and the ICRC. The road is still unpaved and under construction.
The Tegh-Kornidzor road runs within the Syunik province of Armenia and connects to the new route of the Lachin Corridor that has been in operation since August 2022.
On March 30, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan confirmed that Azeri armed forces captured several heights in the Lachin region and along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
“In regard with the commissioning of the new Lachin road, several high grounds between Jaghazur and Zabukh (Aghavno) villages of Lachin region, main and auxiliary roads, as well as large areas along the border were taken under the control of the Azerbaijan Army Units,” the Foreign Ministry said.
The road captured by Azerbaijani forces is a temporary road that has been in use since August 2022. Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed that the temporary road would be operational until Armenia completed construction of the Tegh-Kornidzor road.
According to the ceasefire agreement ending the 2020 Artsakh War, within three years Armenia and Azerbaijan would construct a new route along the Lachin Corridor, to which Russian peacekeepers would be deployed. The new route begins in the village Kornidzor in the Syunik province of Armenia, passes through the village Hin Shen in the Shushi district and reaches the Artsakh capital Stepanakert.
Azerbaijan undertook construction of the portion of the road that runs through Artsakh. Its crews worked rapidly to complete construction by August 2022. The Armenian side, however, delayed starting construction on the part of the road within its borders. Armenian authorities insisted that the route should be decided within three years, under the terms of the ceasefire.
On August 2, Azerbaijan demanded that Armenia halt use of the old route. Its demand coincided with border attacks on Artsakh, resulting in the deaths of two Armenian soldiers. On August 5, Artsakh authorities announced that the Armenian residents of Lachin, Aghavno and Sus, all located along the old route, would have to evacuate their homes by August 25.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan confirmed during a March 30 cabinet meeting that the route of the Lachin Corridor has been changed. He said that Armenia and Azerbaijan had previously agreed that Armenia could use the temporary road until April 1, 2023. Pashinyan said that border guards from the National Security Service (NSS), rather than from the army, will be deployed along the new Tegh-Kornidzor road.
The NSS added that Azerbaijani soldiers have not only captured the road, but have also set up posts within Armenia’s borders. It said that Azerbaijani soldiers have advanced up to 300 meters into Armenian territory at five border sections. The NSS added that the Azerbaijani forces have started to “carry out engineering work.”
These Azerbaijani posts are located near the village Tegh. Farmers have lost access to their fields and cannot work as a result, according to local officials.
This is not the first time in recent weeks that Azerbaijan has asserted control over routes around Artsakh by force. On March 25, Azerbaijani armed forces captured a strategic height near the Stepanakert-Lisagor road, placing the road under its direct line of fire. The road, which runs through difficult terrain and was rarely used in the past, was used after the start of the blockade of Artsakh to transfer civilians and humanitarian goods. It was also used to connect Stepanakert with Lisagor, Hin Shen, Mets Shen and Yeghtsahogh, villages around Shushi.
Lillian Avedian
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This self confidence and feeling of impunity – what could be its source? Is it clear to anybody? I mean, theirs is a pretty small country essentially surrounded by unfriendly states. Somebody must have given them assurances of some sort that they can behave like this. But who and what sort?
It is crystal clear to me. Soviet-invented terrorist Azerbaijan does everything with impunity because:
1. Armenia is still ruled by that incompetent treasonous Pashinyan who has washed his hands of Artsakh altogether.
2. Russian ‘peacekeepers’ are acting like Azerbaijani accomplices rather than keeping the peace.
3. Azerbaijani criminal leaders have sold the exploration and excavation rights of mines in Artsakh worth billions of dollars to the British and they are behind this blockade as well to protect their investments.
4. The Azerbaijani government and military agents disguised as ‘environmental activists’ with no track records in polluted Azerbaijan whatsoever are there to enforce this transaction between terrorist Azerbaijan and the British firms.
5. The two-faced hypocritical West, the EU in particular, with billions invested in Caspian oil & gas exploration, excavation and exportation to energy-hungry Europe instead of punishing terrorist Azerbaijan for recent terrorist activities against native Armenians has increased their energy imports by 30% to compensate for the Western sanctioned Russian energy imports, thus creating a dependency on this criminal Azerbaijani cesspool, and increasing their revenues to invest even more in deadly weapons to threaten Armenians with terrorist Turkey’s backing. The same terrorist Turkey that treasonous Pashinyan recently assisted with thousand of tons of food and other supplies to their earthquake zones while keeping Artsakh population hungry and in the dark!
Nothing will change until this dysfunctional and unpatriotic regime in Armenia is dissolved. The Azerbaijani and Turkish hungry wolves, with massive appetite for Armenian blood, have found a sheep in Pashinyan and are making Armenia bleed to death one bite at a time. The incompetent regime in Armenia is facilitating this disaster by its inaction and it is a disgrace to the Armenian nation. It has got to go!
These so called “eco_activists”,if they are what they pretend, then they should go to rise their voices in front of the huge oil and gas field in Caspian sea around Baku. Those extraction activities put in danger the existence of many rare fish in Caspian areas.
That’s right, Sangachal Terminal for example.
Armenian officials are more concerned about their next Mercedes model than what is going on in Artsakh.
Their rent a mob shills hence their inaction within Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan is lousy but the previous regime was obstinate in negotiations about the area and had far too much faith in Russia as an ally, a post Soviet one track mentality
Russia in trying to please everyone has ended up pleasing no one
Azerbaijan has positioned itself as a non Russian source of oil and gas and an access to Central Asia and a observation against Iran and Russia and militarily non aligned although has strong links with kith and kin NATO member Turkey although it is viewed as an enfant terrible within that alliance.
Western investments in Azerbaijan weren’t an anti Armenian conspiracy as such although by default certainly have that effect!
Russia obviously wanted to influence Azerbaijan regarding it’s oil and gas and for its own security on its southern border and to limit it’s burgeoning relationship with Turkey and part of Putins calamitous obsession with the former USSR
EU gas consumption is about 400 BCM per year and has been in decline since 2010. Right now the top sources of imported gas are Norway (a quarter), UK, US, Algeria, Qatar certainly not Azerbaijan. You can easily look up that info.
If this is happening now under the watch of Russian “peacekeepers”, halfway through their “peacekeeping” mandate, and with the connivance of Russia (in order to punish Armenia, due to Pashinyan’s tilt towards the West, which is as indifferent to the plight of Armenia and Artsakh, just like Russia), it is the harbinger of things to come for the people of Artsakh, when the mandate ends in 2025.
So many warnings about the impending ethnic cleansing of Armenians and the destruction of Armenian heritage of Artsakh were made back in 2020, when the war just ended, but Pashinyan decided to betray and sacrifice Artsakh, stupidly believing that Armenia can prosper and have peace with the archenemies Azerbaijan and Turkey, when we all know, they will not stop, not only after Artsakh is removed, but until Armenia is removed as well.
It’s quite obvious that Azerbaijan intends for the Armenian population to either accept Azeri nationality or leave. Although it’s worth bearing in mind that Armenia didn’t allow Azeris who lived in soviet NK and parts of Azerbaijan that Armenia controlled 1994 – 2020 to stay. Also it’s obvious that Azerbaijan will not allow Russia to remain beyond 2025 what’s happing now is a transitional period not a long term settlement! So Armenians need to get their act together rather than kick the can down the road with the farcical negotiations that had gone on over the years, hoping the issues will go away, Russia will save us, we will be stronger in the future, as has been going on over the decades… Azerbaijan which revoked the nominal autonomy from the soviet era is determined to fully assert it’s authority and alas the dream will die with it. Also if Russia fails in Ukraine it could be compelled by NATO to withdraw and abrogate it’s alliances with other nations. Or equally implode and be unable to uphold it’s commitments. If Russia is more successful Azerbaijan will still demand to assert it’s authority over the area. After all it’s recognised as part of Azerbaijan and thus it has the right to desire withdraw of foreign military from what’s formally it’s territory. After this sorry experience Armenia will see that Russia was never the quite the friend that many Armenians imagined it to be and the death of the dream was due to the fact that Russia wasn’t particularly supportive of Armenia and that Armenia should made some compromise over parts of Azerbaijan it gained but at least recognised N-K as an independent entity when in a position of relative strengh in the 1990’s in going for greater seems set to loose it all and that there had been misplaced faith in Russia throughout.
Armenian friends you have got a lot of soft powers in your disposal, but unfortunately you are not using them in an effective way, first you should need know who your enemies are. Azeri people are not your enemy, your enemy is pan Turkism, not the Azeri people. Please do not equate Azeri with Turk. As a Kurd or Armenian or Persian cannot be Turk, the same applies to Azeri. If an Indian learns English very well he or she cannot claim to be English, if a Chinese man in Hong Kong learns English, he cannot claim to be English, there are several countries in Africa which speak French, are they French? Definitely not. Unfortunately many Azeri themselves do not know this fact, because they have been brain washed day and night, really they do not know that they had been Turkified by the well known brutality and savageries of Turkish invaders and they think they have been Turk from the beginning of history. Even in Turkey, at least 25% of them are Kurd which hate pan Turkism, and half of the rest of Turkey residence had been Turkified by sword as you know very well, again they do not know and we (people who suffer from pan Turkism) must remind those who wrongly call themselves Turk that they are not Turk at all. This takes time and patient but its effect is the long lasting and forever. Meantime you will receive the help and support of many people including those live in Azerbaijan and Anatolia.
Second, I think Armenian people should not chose a pro-western prim minister as long as Mr Putin is around, it was a wrong choice. He decided to punish you for your election of Pro western prim minister and let Elham Ali Ofe (slave of Rajeb T. Ordeghan) by using pan Turkism card to do the dirty job on Putin’s behave. Mr Pashinan is an asset for Armenia and is a young man and could wait after Putin to lead Armenia.
Armenia is on existential watch. It looks pretty bleak. Pashinyan’s smirky policies are going to undermine Armenia in ways you would never imagine.
Is there a set end date for Russian “peacekeepers” in Artsakh? Even if there is, I hope common sense will prevail and they will stay.