20:28,

YEREVAN, JUNE 16, ARMENPRESS.  For the second day now, Azerbaijan has blocked all types of humanitarian transportation to Artsakh, which were carried out during the blockade accompanied by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Russian peacekeeping force, ARMENPRESS reports, Artsakh’s human rights defender Gegham Stepanyan wrote on his Facebook page.

"Blocking the transportation of humanitarian goods to Artsakh deepens the humanitarian crisis created in Artsakh as a result of the blockade. The already poor food situation caused by the six-month long blockade creates existential threats for the 120,000 people of Artsakh, including 30,000 children, 20,000 elderly and 9,000 people with disabilities, due to the blocking of humanitarian transportations.

As a result of the complete blocking of the corridor, the pre-planned transfer of 102 medical patients and their accompanying persons from Artsakh to Armenia and vice versa was not carried out. The supply of necessary medicines has also been completely stopped, causing serious problems for the citizens and the medical facilities of Artsakh," Stepanyan wrote.

According to him, the complete blockade of Artsakh by Azerbaijan, the blocking of humanitarian transportation, the deliberate and long-term disruption of the normal functioning of vital infrastructures is an indicator of the fact that even humanitarian issues are used by Azerbaijan to put pressure on the people of Artsakh, terrorize them, and push forward various demands.

"Issues of a humanitarian nature are used by Azerbaijan as a tool to advance the policy of ethnic hatred and ethnic cleansing against the people of Artsakh," concluded Stepanyan.