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Armenia has asked the United Nations Security Council to hold an emergency meeting regarding the worsening situation in the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
This region in Azerbaijan is mainly inhabited by ethnic Armenians.
In the letter sent on August 11 to the president of the Security Council, the Armenian ambassador to the UN, Mher Margarian, said that the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh "are on the verge of a complete humanitarian catastrophe".
Both Armenia and separatist authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have said Azerbaijan has blocked access to the region since December last year, resulting in shortages of food, medicine and energy supplies.
Tensions escalated further after Azerbaijan tightened the blockade in June by setting up a checkpoint on the route known as the Lacin Corridor. This is the only road connecting Armenia with the breakaway region. Azerbaijan claimed that "several types of contraband" had been detected in Red Cross vehicles coming from Armenia.
Referring to the blockade, Armenia's Prime Minister, Nikol Pashinian, said on August 11 that the ban on humanitarian aid shipments amounts to "genocide".
Pashinian also warned Azerbaijan against what he called "cancellation of the historic opportunity for peace" between the two states in the South Caucasus.
Azerbaijan denies it is blocking Nagorno-Karabakh and has offered alternative routes for shipments through the city of Agdam, located in the north of the region and controlled by Baku.
However, the separatist government of Nagorno-Karabakh has rejected this offer, saying that Azerbaijan's blockade of the Lachin Corridor constitutes a violation of the 2020 ceasefire agreement. This agreement, which was brokered by Moscow, provides for a five-kilometer-wide road , which should be controlled by Russian peacekeepers.
A group of UN experts issued a statement on August 7 expressing alarm over the blockade that Azerbaijan has imposed on the Lacin Corridor. Experts said that this blockade has led to a severe humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"By lifting the blockade, the [Azerbaijani] authorities can alleviate the suffering of thousands of residents in Nagorno-Karabakh and allow the unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid to the civilian population," experts said. "It is essential to provide the safety, dignity and well-being of all persons during this critical time"./ REL
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