By Ulyana Kubini
For over 7 months, residents in Nagorno-Karabakh (known locally as Artsakh) have suffered under a suffocating blockade imposed by Azerbaijan. Shortages of critical medications, food, and fuel have been widespread.
In the region, 120,000 Armenians, including 30,000 children and 20,000 elderly individuals, are depending on scarce local resources for their survival. No goods or medicine have been allowed in for over a month. But those supplies cannot last forever. Recently, they have reached their limits.
In response to the total blockade, the President of Nagorno-Karabakh Arayik Harutyunyan officially announced the region as a disaster zone, calling upon UN Security Council to take action against Azerbaijan for blocking the Lachin Corridor, the sole corridor through which aid is provided to Karabakh residents.
The President told Karabakh journalists in an urgent press conference that, “Right now Artsakh [Nagorno Karabakh] is the only territory in the world to be in total isolation and under blockade, without any humanitarian aid or international presence,” adding that if the international community continues to turn a blind eye to the suffering of Karabakh residents, Karabakh could be classified as a “concentration camp.”
In an attempt to meet the needs of the Armenian population in Karabakh, Yerevan has sent a convoy of trucks filled with humanitarian aid carrying over 360 tons of food and goods. However, transferring these goods to the civilian population may prove to be a challenge, as the trucks are yet to pass through Azeri checkpoints.
The aid from Yerevan, the only aid residents have been receiving since Azerbaijan cut off assistance in December of 2022, has been stuck at the Azeri checkpoint near Lachin for several days. Azeri president justified the move by calling Yerevan’s aid a “provocation” and a “violation of international law.”
However, it is Azerbaijan that has (and currently is) violating international law by blocking humanitarian aid and imposing an illegal blockade on Karabakh, akin to collective punishment. Both the European Parliament and the International Court of Justice have demanded Azerbaijan lift the blockade and open the corridor to no avail.
Thus far, only India has given significant arms to Armenia, including rockets, missiles, and ammunition in a deal valued at $250 million USD. The deal included the highly valued Pinaka MBRLS, a high tech missile launcher equivalent to Western HIMARS.
