A resident of the blockaded Armenian enclave in Nagorno-Karanach has told Express.co.uk that people are facing "mass starvation and total hunger" as food supplies run low.
She said that the only readily available food item was bread and that people were fainting from hunger and exhaustion while queuing for up to six hours to buy it.
The Republic of Artsakh is a breakaway state in the South Caucasus, whose territory is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. Its population consists of around 120,000 Armenians who are insisting on the right to self-determination and independence from Baku.
The disputed territory has been at the centre of a decades long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, resulting in two major wars that have resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of people.
In the war of 2020, Azerbaijan recaptured most of the territory it lost in 1994, leaving the Republic of Artsakh with just a fraction of the land it once controlled and isolated from mainland Armenia.
As a part of a trilateral peace agreement, a land corridor was established that connected the Republic of Artsakh with Armenia. Known as the Lachin Road corridor, this route was intended to allow humanitarian aid and food to reach the Armenian enclave in Nagorno-Karabakh.
However, the Azerbaijanis started to blockade the road in December of last year, initially by using environmental activists who claimed they were protesting against ecological damage caused by gold and copper mining in Artsakh.
Despite the protests, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was still able to deliver limited supplies of aid, that included food and medication. But in April the Azeris installed checkpoints on their side of the border and since June 15 no humanitarian supplies have been able to get through along the road, leaving the residents of Artsakh in a desperate plight.
Mary Asatryan works as an assistant to the Human Rights Defender of Artsakh in the enclave's capital Stepanakert. She told Express.co.uk that all spheres of life had been paralysed by the blockade and that hundreds of people were facing starvation.
With most shops and supermarkets closed, the only products readily available to buy are bread, as well as some seasonal vegetables and fruit that local farmers and villagers are able to grow on their land. However once the summer is over, the situation could become even more critical.
"In a few weeks when the growing season is over – and I am talking about tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes which are staple food products – when those products run out and the growing season ends we will face mass starvation and total hunger," she said.
Deaths from starvation are already starting to happen. In one recent incident a 40-year-old man from Stepanakert died as a result of chronic malnutrition, protein and energy deficiency.
Ms Asatryan said people were living from day to day as regards food and were having to queue for up to six hours just to buy bread.
"People are fainting a lot, especially while queueing," she explained. "There is widespread exhaustion and depression – people are stressed and anxious because they don't know what to expect tomorrow."
The Azeris have also targeted critical civilian infrastructure, cutting off gas and electricity supplies, as well as access to the internet. More than 80 per cent of the population rely on gas to heat their homes and for cooking.
The Armenians are still able to produce some electricity locally through the Sarsang Hydro Power Plant, but it is not enough to meet all the demands of the population, meaning there are daily rolling blackouts.
Water supplies have also been disrupted, resulting in households going without for over a week in some instances.
"Two weeks ago the water supply to my neighbourhood was cut and I didn't have water for 6 to 7 days," Ms Asatryan said.
"I had to get water from my friends. On one occasion my entire day – it was a Sunday – was spent finding water and then queuing for bread. The organisation of normal life, of meeting one's basic needs takes so much effort now, people don't have any time for other things – so people are struggling all day long just to meet their most basic needs."
Ms Asatryan's organisation closely monitors the health and wellbeing of expectant mothers, who have been disproportionately affected by the blockade.
"Basically we have 2,000 pregnant women in Artsakh – all of them lack proper nutrition, they don't have rich vitamin diets," she explained. "It's not enough to provide for a healthy child and miscarriages have tripled in number through the period."
The Azeris insist that Artsakh is a part of Azerbaijan and cannot be regarded as an independent state. They say the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh must accept that reality and live under the direct rule of Baku.
The Armenians, however, believe they will be persecuted by the Azeris if they are forced to give up their right to self-determination, given their long history of ethnic conflict. And that this persecution could have catastrophic consequences.
"The red line for people here would be becoming part of Azerbaijan which they would definitely not tolerate," Ms Asatryan said. "The level of Armeno-phobia in Azerbaijan is unimaginable and it's unrealistic to speak of co-existence. Nobody guarantees the security of Armenians under the rule of Azerbaijan given their openly Armeno-phobic rhetoric which has been documented by the European Court for Human Rights.
"How can you place a population of Armenian origin under the rule of an Armeno-phobic regime? There is a clear road to ethnic cleansing and genocide here – that's what will happen if we think of this scenario."
Hikmet Hajiyev, a special adviser to Azerbaijan's President, told the BBC that Armenians would enjoy the same rights as any other Azeri citizen living in the country. He said they would have equal "linguistic, cultural, religious, including municipal rights".
Azerbaijan also denies that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding. It says it has offered an alternative supply route via the town of Agdam.
"Then afterwards the Lachin road will be opened in 24 hours as well. More roads are better for everybody," Mr Hajiyev said.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1808294/armenia-azerbaijan-conflict-lachin-road-blockade-starvation-genocide
