Artsakh authorities have announced that all public transportation routes have been terminated as of July 25 due to a fuel shortage arising from Azerbaijan’s blockade.
“Artsakh is now the only area in the world that is in full isolation and siege, devoid of any humanitarian aid and international presence. Without urgent international support to this disaster zone, Artsakh could be likened to a concentration camp, with all its dire consequences,” Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said during a press conference on July 24.
Public transportation within Stepanakert, the capital of Artsakh, has been suspended since July 18 due to a lack of fuel. Until Tuesday, buses that traveled between Stepanakert and the other towns and villages of Artsakh had remained in operation, supplying the capital city with produce from rural regions and transporting people to work or school. However, as of July 25, those routes have also been terminated, bringing all public transportation across the region to a halt.
Azerbaijan has placed Artsakh under blockade since December 2022, cutting off the region from imports of food, medicine and other basic goods and restricting travel between Artsakh and the outside world. The blockade has been compounded by the ongoing disruption of natural gas flows, which enter Artsakh from Armenia through a single pipeline that runs through Azerbaijani-controlled territory. Artsakh authorities say that Azerbaijan is deliberately obstructing the gas supply in order to precipitate an energy crisis.
Artsakh authorities say that the lack of fuel is affecting the operation of ambulances. Artsakh Health Minister Vardan Tadevosyan said that the number of emergency vehicles transporting patients to hospitals has already been reduced to preserve the fuel supply. Medical workers have been trying to provide remote assistance to people in need of medical attention. Sending ambulances to towns and villages from Stepanakert during medical emergencies has become impossible.
“We have two cases where the ambulance did not arrive on time. I believe that the patients could have been saved if it was possible to get to the hospital faster. Those cases may increase due to the lack of fuel,” Tadevosyan told Artsakhpress.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has evacuated 24 patients from Artsakh to Armenia for medical treatment over the last few days. The ICRC has evacuated more than 600 people requiring medical care since the start of the blockade in December 2022.
The blockade has severely compromised Artsakh’s healthcare system, forcing the suspension of planned surgeries in Artsakh hospitals. While the ICRC has intermittently transported patients from Artsakh to Armenia, Azerbaijan has twice blocked the ICRC from doing so, on June 15 for 10 days then on July 10 for four days. Azerbaijan justified its restrictions on ICRC activity, claiming that ICRC vehicles are used to transport cigarettes, mobile phone parts and much-needed fuel to Artsakh.
Artsakh authorities also say that, due to the suspension of public transportation, it will no longer be possible to deliver agricultural goods from rural regions to densely populated towns and cities. Food is already scarce due to the blockade, and the shelves of Stepanakert’s major grocery stores are empty of food products.
The ICRC and the Russian peacekeeping mission based in Artsakh are the sole entities that have delivered humanitarian assistance, including food and medicine, to the region since the start of the blockade. However, Azerbaijan has prohibited the ICRC and Russian peacekeepers from transporting humanitarian aid to Artsakh since June 15.
The ICRC warns that fruits, vegetables and bread are scarce and costly in Artsakh, while dairy products, sunflower oil, cereal, fish, chicken and other food products are not available at all. Artsakh also faces a shortage of life-saving medication and essentials, including hygiene products and baby formula.
“Our humanitarian aid convoys are a lifeline for the population in this area. With these convoys blocked, our concern is that the humanitarian situation will further deteriorate. We are most worried about those who cannot help themselves. The sick and people with chronic diseases are particularly at risk, as are the elderly, infirm and children. For us to operate here, we need the sides to reach a humanitarian consensus. This is life-saving work, and it must be allowed to continue,” said Ariane Bauer, ICRC’s regional director for Eurasia, in a July 25 statement.
The ICRC said it has not delivered humanitarian items to Artsakh for several weeks through the Berdzor (Lachin) Corridor or any other routes, including Aghdam. Government-sponsored Azerbaijani protesters posing as eco-activists had closed the Berdzor Corridor, the sole route connecting Artsakh and Armenia, from December 12, 2022 to April 23, 2023. They ended their protest after Azerbaijan set up a military checkpoint at the entrance to the corridor from Armenia, placing movement along the corridor completely under the control of Azerbaijani border guards.
The EU said they are taking the ICRC warnings seriously. “The ICRC is doing a tremendous job in very challenging circumstances on the ground. It is important that they are able to operate freely,” EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar said in a tweet sharing the ICRC statement.
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said it “took note” of the ICRC statement. It said that the Armenian side has rejected Azerbaijan’s offer to deliver “larger quantities of medicine and cargo” via Aghdam.
Azerbaijani leaders have recently proposed delivering humanitarian supplies to Artsakh from Azerbaijan through the Aghdam-Stepanakert road, rather than from Armenia through the Berdzor Corridor. The EU seemed to support this proposal, when European Council President Charles Michel said he would “encourage humanitarian deliveries from both sides to ensure the needs of the population are met,” following a trilateral meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels on July 15. The announcement sparked criticism from across Artsakh and Armenia as an unacceptable alternative to opening the Berdzor Corridor.
During a press conference on July 25, Pashinyan said he does not have the “necessity or mandate” to discuss Azerbaijan’s proposal to deliver humanitarian aid to Artsakh through Aghdam. He said he did not discuss the issue during the trilateral meeting in Brussels.
“I did not discuss this question, because I do not think I have the mandate to discuss such a question. I have a mandate to discuss the Lachin Corridor question, because it was created through the Nov. 9, 2020 trilateral announcement, of which I am a signatory. In these platforms, we only discuss issues related to the illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor and its reopening,” Pashinyan said.
London-based South Caucasus scholar Laurence Broers warned that the “long forewarned humanitarian crisis is now unfolding in Karabakh.”
“The blockade renders irrelevant any talk of the civil integration of Karabakh Armenians. It vindicates the worst fears of the Karabakh Armenian population vis-a-vis the Azerbaijani state,” Broers tweeted on July 25. “The starvation of the Armenian population will leave a new legacy of unforgiving distrust canceling any hopes of reconstituting community relations.”
Lillian Avedian
Latest posts by Lillian Avedian (see all)
- Book Review | Reparations of the Heart: Toward a SWANA Futurity - April 10, 2024
- The Region in Brief - April 10, 2024
- Armenia on the path to becoming a global leader in artificial intelligence - March 27, 2024
1915 all over again
Congratulations to all who supported Armenia’s Western financed color revolution in 2018. The situation Artsakh is in today the wonderful by-product of Armenia’s democratization and westernization process, and the pan-Armenian effort to break Armenia free of Russian influence. Therefore, all those who badmouthed Armenia’s previous “oligarchs”, “Moscow’s puppets” and the “Karabakh Clan” should really be proud of yourselves.
We Armenians as a whole are incapable of understanding geopolitics. It may be genetic. Simple mindedness (seeing the world in black and white terms), cognitive dissonance (being out of touch with reality), arrogance (thinking you know better) is a receipe for failure. Couple all this with an army of Western and Turkish agents who are embedded throughout Armenian society and who’s main task is to spread disinformation and tug on people’s emotions, and what you get is a disaster. This is how we Armenians have been perennial losers. The last 30 years is proof. The quicker we move back under Moscow’s umbrella, the sooner will this nightmare end.
Sarcasm is a poor sour grapes argument. Perhaps look at Russia losses in Ukraine and realise actually why Armenia lost in 2020. The notion that had Armenia been closer to Russia in 2020 which at the time seemed plausible then such a thing couldn’t happen, as Russia was so incredible has been disproved on the steppes of Ukraine. Russia had been calling for Armenia as stated by Andrew Korybko to withdraw from internationally recognised Azerbaijan yet would go on to invade and attempt annexations in Ukraine if this is not rank hypocrisy by a so called ally then there is no such thing.
Russia is single handedly destroying Ukraine and NATO, and it is doing so with only a fraction of its military potential. If you want to hear what really is going on in Ukraine I suggest you stop listening to your government’s BS and start listening to independent voices. Here are a couple of “blokes” you can listen to:
London Real interviews Col. Macgregor
https://youtu.be/_YA1tY1bHtw
@CHARLES
Russia is “losing” because the entire world is supporting Ukraine (sanctions, weapons transfer, billions in aid). If Ukraine was fighting alone, the war would have ended by now.
Armenia is a lost cause. Thirty years of corruption, waste, mismanagement, fraud, tax evasion, illegal land grabbing, and even murder (1999 killings of Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsian, parliament speaker Karen Demirchian, and seven others). Instead of working together, investing in the country, educating the masses, and militarizing the country, Armenia kept singing, dancing, building more churches and organizing wine festivals. Meanwhile, Turkey and Azerbaijan were arming themselves to the teeth.
At this point, Armenians need to hang up the keys and turn off the lights. It is reaping what it sowed.
The world is watching and doing nothing again.
So sad, once again we are ignored. We have to make them listen by speaking up protesting in NYC the home of the American news media. Armenians in other countries have to the same. We just can not keep this to ourselves.
@ Truth Armenian , what you have said is all too true it’s easier now than it was before given recent events the loss in 2020, Russia’s debacle in Ukraine. As for Armenia as an ally of Russia even if not keenly supporting it’s war will be judged by it’s friends by the west who seem to hold the power thus it needs to coldy calculate whether Russia is going to win or lose, no wishful thinking, simple dispassionate assessment and choose whether to stand by Russia more closely if it feels Russia will win or step away if it feels Russia will lose not necessarily turning against against Russia but distancing emphatically. As there will be less support by the west for an Armenia and protection against Turkey and Azerbaijan,that remains by Russia in the event of a defeat. If Russia losses it will either abandon or be compelled to abrogate it’s CTSO alliance and EEU trade partnerships. If Russia wins if it’s decisive then it may be more supportive of its best ally in the region if it s a stalemate Armenia will be under pressure by the west as an ally of a hostile power even if not viewed as an enemy in itself
The world is watching and doing nothing again. Completely agree with you. The world is watching Nagorno Karabach and also doing nothing. These politics are unbelieveable. Governments are not managing things well at all.
Armenia seems like a lost cause. There is no logic in their governance. No unity. Expecting help from abroad. Why can’t they be self sufficient? The situation is disastrous. The only solution is to be a part of Russia again. Why on earth does Arsakh want to be independent? It cannot sustain itself. I pity the people. They are being slaughtered.
God will ultimately negatively judge ALL and I repeat ALL of the leaders who are in a position to stop this blockade and by doing nothing are complicit. This includes President Biden, most of the US Senate, much of the US House of Representatives, virtually the entire US State Department, and many leaders in the EU. They have been appraised of the situation and turn a blind eye to oppression, suffering and death. Our time on earth is short and eventually God will determine the penalty for such callous behavior.
What are Amenians waiting for, the actual deaths to pile up? Drop the Dasnhag, Ramgavar, Hinchag, Apostolic, Proestant and Catholic identities. Armenians already lost the battle with Turkey with the infighting. It is time to stand up! The enemy knows we don’t stand together. It is simple, organize gather together go to NYC to all the major news media locations in NYC and demand recognition and demand that our government stop sending American tax payers hard earned tax money to Azerbaijan. That includes our tax dollars too, American Armenian tax dollars. Getting donations is good but we need action, real action!
His entire life, Nikol dreamed of abandoning Artsakh, forgetting the Armenian Genocide, unconditionally opening Armenia’s borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey and, last but not least, bringing Armenia out of Russia’s orbit. Naturally, these unique characteristics exhibited by Nikol did not escape the attention of various intelligence services around the world. This essentially is how and why Western and Turkish interests helped place Nikol into power in 2018. This is not a speculation. This can actually be proving in court. Follow the money trail that paved the way to Nikol’s “New Armenia” (e.g. Soros’ Open Society, NED, USAID, British Council, European Council, large numbers of western financed NGOs, large numbers of western financed news outlets, money transfers from Baku to Armenia just prior to the “velvet revolution”, etc) and you will end up in Washington, London, Brussels, Ankara, Baku and perhaps Tel Aviv. To it’s utter shame and disgrace, the Armenian world, both native and diasporan, preferred to keep Nikol and gang in power not once but twice, the second time being after the embarrassing defeat Armenia suffered in 2020.
Facing with Armenian-style political instability, and having much bigger matters to tend to in Ukraine, 2018 was also when Russia, which had been Armenia’s only lifeline since 1992, began pulling its protective hand away from both Armenia and Artsakh, but did so only slightly so that the two wouldn’t disappear completely from the map.
In other words, seeing that the Armenian world was desperately seeking to embrace Western powers to off-set Russia’s perceived over-influence in Armenia, protecting Armenian interests in Artsakh, as Moscow had done since 1992 at the expense of alienating Turks and Azeris, no longer served Russia’s strategic interests. Seeing that Armenians were persistently seeking western integration, Moscow began cooperating with Ankara and Baku because it needed to pacify its southern flank on the eve of its historic conflagration against Ukraine and NATO. It worked, as both Ankara and Baku have not taken sides against Russia in the war in Ukraine. As such, as a major world crisis was approaching the region, instead of moving closer to the Russian Federation, if only for security reasons (similar to what Belarus and Abkhazia had done), which would be the logical/natural move as Armenia was and continues to be almost entirely dependent on Russia for survival, by 2018 the Armenian world had effectively maneuvered Armenia into geopolitical isolation and a dead-end. Just like how Moscow punished Baku in 1992, Tbilisi in 2008 and Kiev from 2014-present, Moscow also punished Yerevan in 2020. But, unlike what the Kremlin will do to Ukraine (i.e. Ukraine will cease to exist when this war ends), the Kremlin will make sure that an Armenia and an Artsak survives in some form, as Russians still need Armenians in the south Caucasus as a geostrategic buffer against Turks and Muslims.
In a nutshell, what I described above is how Armenians lost Artsakh. This is also why Armenia today is like a rudderless boat on a stormy sea with an utterly incompetent captain. All in all, the last 5 years in Armenia has been a nightmare, and a toxic by-product of western-style democracy, Armenian-style political illiteracy and the self-destructive efforts of Armenians worldwide to use the West as a leverage against Russia. Consequently, Armenians today have no right to complain, as they were again the main authors of the country’s latest tragedy.
So in order to pursue it’s agenda on behalf of fellow Russians in internationally recognised Ukraine, Russia let Armenia loose in 2020 citing it couldn’t act as it wasn’t Armenia and in return Turkey and Azerbaijan avoided formally supporting Ukraine but keenly cooperate with that country. But expects Armenia to be just as loyal as though nothing has happened?
I can’t believe I have to explain all this but look at it this way: just as for London relations between Britain and Cyprus cannot be on an equal plain, for Moscow, relations between Russia and Armenia cannot be on an equal plain. In case you are not aware, Russia is a nuclear superpower. Russia is the largest nation-state on earth. Russia is self-sustaining and therefore self-reliant because of the virtually limitless amounts of natural resources it controls. Armenia on the other hand is a tiny, remote, landlocked, impoverished and embattled nation that is desperately dependent on Russia for survival in a very Turkic/Islamic part of the world. Yet, Armenians are constantly seeking “westernization”. We finally got our wish in 2018. All in all, it’s cognitive dissonance at its worst. Had we Armenians accepted our south Caucasus reality and merged with Russia – just as Abkhazia did, just as Belarus did, just as Crimea did – we would not have suffered the nighmare of the last 5 years. In any case, sooner or later, one way or another, and despite all your efforts, Armenia will go back home to Mother Russia.
For the past 30 years, Armenia natives and the traditional diaspora tried their best to lessen Russia’s influence in Armenia by embracing the West. That’s how we got American-Armenian political figures in Armenia. That’s now we got the AUA. That’s how we got Civilnet. That’s how we got a large army of Western financed NGOs in a tiny, impoverished country desperately dependent on Russia for survival. Nikol is only the toxic by-product of the pan-Armenian effort to “democratize” and “westernize” and make Armenia independent from Russia. We finally got what we wanted in 2018. We then got what we deserved in 2020. The last 30 years, the last 5 years in particular, have shown that Armenians are not ready, nor do they deserve independece. After seeing what we saw during the past 30 years, anyone that still preaches independence, they must be either insane or working towards the Turkification of Armenia.
The quicker we turn the house keys over to Russia, the better it will be for Armenia.
So you’d advise beaten housewives around the world to return to their husbands.
Genius.
You may want to google the statistics on how those stories end.
If Armenia returns to Russia, the Turks will arrive in Yerevan within a decade, when yet another clandestine deal is struck between Erdogan/Putin……but I think you know this Vlad.
You people have done enough damage to Russian-Armenian relations. We are where we are because of your stupidity and/or treason. Russia is the only reason why there has been an Armenia for the past 200 years. Russia is the only reason why Turkish and Azeri militaries aren’t parking their tanks in front of cafes in Yerevan. I like to see all you big talkers go and defend Armenia’s borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Talk is cheap. Like it has been said, Russophobes are either idiots or agents of Turkey and the West, or both.
I am pro-Russia because I strive to be on the right side of history. I am pro-Russia because I am pro-Armenia. Armenia, as we know it, was put on the world map by the Russian Empire. Soviet Russia later turned Armenia into a highly industrialized republic with a cultured population. For the last 30 years, Russia has been post-Soviet Armenia’s lifeline. Nikol’s “New Armenia” is the by-product of the pan-Armenian effort to democratize, westernize and lessen Russia’s influence in Armenia. So, enjoy, you really deserve it.
PS: Armenians who badmouth or fearmonger about Russia or Russians are working for Western and Turkish interests or insane, or both. No other explanation.
Tjis is ridiculous. Where do people like you get your education from? Why are you people so out of touch with reality?
Armenia has been Turk-free primarily because of Russians. You thinks Turks are afraid of big talking Armenians like you? Beaten housewife? What a dumb metaphore. Armenia was put on the map by Russians. Science, sport, acdemia, arts, medicine, industry and education in Soviet Armenia was world class. Soviet Armenians were much more patriotic than post Soviet Armenians. Forget beaten wife, post Soviet Armenia has been like a street prostitute during the past 30 years. That’s better for you?
On April 24, 2021, the President of the United States. Joe Biden, recognized the massacres of Armenians as Genocide. He declared, ” We affirm the history, we do this NOT to cast blame but to ENSURE that what happened is NEVER repeated”. Yeah right, this year, Biden helped Turks and Azeris, commit a SECOND GENOCIDE, by blocking main route providing life support. Biden, is an ACCOMPLICE in the murders of Artsakh population. As an avid Democrat, next year in 2024presidentian elections, he will NOT get my support or donation. I suggest, Democrats of Arnenian descent follow the suit.
On April 24, 2021, the President of the United States. Joe Biden, recognized the massacres of Armenians as Genocide. He said,” Each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the Ottoman-era Armenian genocida and recommit ourselves to PREVENTING such an attricity from ever again OCCURRING we affirm the HISTORY, we do this NOT to cast blame but to ENSURE that what happened is NEVER repeated”. Yeah right, this year, Biden helped Turks and Azeris, commit a SECOND GENOCIDE, by blocking main route connecting Armenia to Artsakh providing life support. Biden and his administration, by remaining silent, is proof that they are, an ACCOMPLICE in the murders of Artsakh population. Also, as an avid Democrat, come next year in 2024 presidential elections, he will NOT get my support nor donation. I suggest, Democrats of Arnenian descent follow the suit.