Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) is ready for dialogue with Azerbaijan to solve political problems, Artsakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan stated one month after the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia and the world - the Berdzor Corridor (Lachin corridor), was closed.
Ruben Vardanyan (State Minister of Artsakh) - We are in favor of dialogue, but we are ready to dialogue only on the topics that we consider important. In other words, we are ready for a political dialogue, not about how wide the road should be, or how such technical issues should be resolved, which Azerbaijan proposed.
Referring to the false claims of Azerbaijan that the road is not closed and that 400 cars passed through the Berdzor corridor within a month, the Minister of State of Artsakh emphasized that the number of cars passing through the corridor in one day before the road was closed was twice more than that number. Although he expects more from Russia in the steps to solve the problem, Vardanyan did not criticize the activities of the Russian peacekeeping mission. He spoke about the need to increase the number of peacekeepers in Nagorno-Karabakh and extend the term of the mission.
The newly appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh Sergey Ghazaryan emphasized that the Azerbaijani actions are aimed at discrediting the Russian peacekeepers.
Sergey Ghazaryan (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Artsakh) - What should the Armenian side do, pour water into the mill of Azerbaijani provocation? We discuss all the problems, what problems arise, there are questions related to different fields, and we find solutions during these discussions.
Ruben Vardanyan expects more attention from the public sphere and citizens of Armenia to the problems of the people of Artsakh, and the expectations from the Diaspora are also higher. The Minister of State also referred to the position of the Armenian Government.
Ruben Vardanyan - They support financially, they support in the legal direction, and they said: we can do this much, we cannot do more. It doesn't matter what I expect from them, they have given their answer, they can do this much. We are thankful for all of that.
Artsakh Human Rights Defender Gegham Stepanyan expects the international community to take steps to condemn the large-scale violations of the rights of Artsakh citizens by Azerbaijan. A food crisis has been created in Artsakh, which has been under siege for a month, planned surgeries have been stopped, and patients in need of medical care cannot be transferred to Armenia. Gegham Stepanyan calls Baku's actions a crime against humanity.
Gegham Stepanyan (Artsakh Human Rights Defender) - The international response in this matter should be very clear, otherwise we are really facing a very big humanitarian crisis and a very big humanitarian catastrophe.
The besieged Artsakh residents reaffirm that their struggle is not just against the blockade, but a struggle for the right to live in their own land.
