10:21, 1 August 2023

YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. The World Council of Churches (WCC) is calling on Azerbaijan for the immediate lifting of the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, as more than 120,000 people—including 30,000 children—are suffering under an increasingly dire humanitarian crisis.

“As the humanitarian crisis in the blockaded enclave of Nagorno-Karabagh (Artsakh) reaches a tragic level, the World Council of Churches reiterates its statements and positions on the need for urgent and immediate action by the international community,” said WCC general secretary Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay. “The Lachin corridor, the only road that links the region to Armenia, has been blocked for more than seven months, sparking a humanitarian emergency and putting the lives of 120,000 people, including children, in great danger.”

People lack food, medication, electricity, and gas. “The WCC urges the international community to intervene immediately and quickly in order to end the blockade and save the lives of the Artsakh residents and then proceed to efforts of finding diplomatic solutions for a just peace in the region,” said Pillay.

“The WCC calls on Azerbaijan and other forces involved for the immediate lifting of the blockade and to reopen the Lachin corridor to allow for the two-way free and safe passage of civilians, transport, and goods along the corridor and to guarantee unimpeded humanitarian access to alleviate the suffering of the Armenian population of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh).”

The WCC has made several previous statements and minutes on Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), including a minute at the WCC 11th Assembly entitled “Consequences of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war,” in which it reiterated its condemnation of the use of chemical weapons and cluster munitions, the targeting of civilians, hospitals and public infrastructure, and all other war crimes, beheadings, torture, and other atrocities witnessed during the conflict.