Azerbaijanis have stopped Armenians who were returning from Goris to Nagorno-Karabakh accompanied by Russian peacekeepers at the checkpoint in Lachin Corridor and staged a performance attempting to falsely show that the road is open, the State Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh Gurgen Nersisyan said on May 1.
“On April 23, 2023, Azerbaijan illegally set up a checkpoint on the Artsakh-Armenia border line (in Lachin Corridor), which resulted in the towns of Shushi region of Artsakh appearing in a total blockade, being cut off both from Stepanakert and Armenia. The humanitarian condition of the residents of the towns of Mets Shen, Hin Shen, Yeghtsahogh and Lisagor of Shushi region began deteriorating each day since April 23, we’ve attempted to supply food and medication through the Artsakh office of the Red Cross, but these efforts gave no results. During the initial days, three minors were taken back to their parents from Goris with support of the Russian peacekeepers, but the return of the remaining persons was banned by Azerbaijan. A group of residents requested the Russian peacekeepers on the ground to resolve the urgent humanitarian issues of the people who are in a full and two-sided blockade, who allowed passage for private cars without checks through the checkpoint on the Hagari Bridge, with assurances in advance that there will be no control interference by Azerbaijanis. Our citizens, with support of the peacekeepers, freely passed the road on one way, however, on the way back to their settlements together with the compatriots who were stranded in Goris as a result of the checkpoint they met Azerbaijanis at the checkpoint. The Azerbaijanis put our citizens in a desperate situation and forced them to comply with their demands and filmed the process to show off yet another performance.
This is yet another proof that the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint is impeding the uninterrupted movement of Artsakh citizens, vehicles and cargo, in violation of the terms of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement and the ruling of the UN International Court of Justice. The people of Artsakh are waiting for the restoration of the mode of the Lachin Corridor as defined under the trilateral statement – a 5km wide corridor exclusively under Russian peacekeeping forces’ control,” Nersisyan said.
