Azerbaijan set up an illegal checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor
After Azerbaijan illegally set up a checkpoint on the blockaded Lachin Corridor, the authorities in Yerevan condemned Azerbaijan for the blatant violation of the November 9, 2020 agreement and called on Russia to “fulfill its obligations” and end the blockade of Artsakh.
Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan also made a similar appeal to Moscow after convening an emergency session of the country National Security Council.
With the establishment of the illegal checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor, “the people of Artsakh have once and for all become hostages in the hands of Azerbaijan, with the growing danger of apparent ethnic cleansing, and that the further effect of the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement is under serious threat,” said Harutyunyan.
“We appeal to the parties of the Trilateral Ceasefire Agreement, and especially the Russian Federation, to immediately start discussions on lifting the blockade of Artsakh, preventing the establishment of an Azerbaijani checkpoint and providing real guarantees for the security of the people of Artsakh,” the Artsakh president added.
“We anticipate that effective step will be taken to resolve the security and humanitarian problems faced by the people of Artsakh in the shortest possible time, the absence of which will allow the government and the people of Artsakh to decide what to do next,” the statement said.
Below is the text of a statement issued on Sunday by Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.
On the authorities of Azerbaijan, grossly violating the provision 6 of November 9, 2020 Trilateral statement, have already officially blocked the Lachin corridor, taking steps to install a checkpoint in the corridor in the area of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
This step carried out by the armed forces of Azerbaijan today cannot even be considered as another provocation of Azerbaijan: it is really a flagrant violation of one of the fundamental provisions of November 9, 2020 Trilateral statement, aimed at the consistent implementation of Azerbaijan’s policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and the complete annihilation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh. The continuous illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor since December 12, 2022 under fabricated environmental pretexts and the installation of a checkpoint under false and groundless pretexts today are the continuation of the consistent implementation of this planned policy.
This action is being carried out against the unequivocal statements of the international community and especially the legally binding decision of February 22, 2023 of the International Court of Justice. Furthermore, the authorities of Azerbaijan not only are not making an effort not only to fulfill the well-known agreements, but they are covering up their continuous violations of the fundamental norms of international law as well as in every possible way aggravate the regional situation, preparing the ground for the use of large-scale force.
The Republic of Armenia, as a signatory to the November 9 Trilateral statement, considers this step of installing a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan unacceptable. This, as well as the previous similar actions of Azerbaijan, combined with continuous Armeniophobic and threatening rhetoric, are aimed at scuttling the negotiations on the document on the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
We call on the Russian Federation to finally fulfill the obligation under provision 6 of the Trilateral statement by eliminating the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor and ensuring the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from the entire security zone of the corridor, and we call on the member states of the UN, having a mandate for the preservation of international security, to clearly record Azerbaijan’s actions undermining the regional security and take effective steps towards the unconditional implementation of the decision of the ICJ, the highest international legal body.