Monday, January 9 2023 19:32

ArmInfo. The Board of Trustees of the "Hayastan" All Armenian Fund issued a statement in connection with the the blockade of the Lachin Corridor.   

According to the sorce, the statement reads, in part: "The complete  blockade of the Nagorno-Karabakh people by Azerbaijan, which started  back on 12 December 2022, in gross violation of the regime set for  the Lachin corridor in the Trilateral Statement dated 9 November  2020, and closing up the lifeline that links Nagorno-Karabakh with  Armenia and the rest of the world, has posed a serious existential  threat for approximately 120,000 Armenians living there. By doing so,  Azerbaijan is at least creating a ground for forced displacement,  thereby conducting a clear policy of ethnic cleansing.  The  population of Nagorno-Karabakh remains hostage in the hands of a  country that, despite its aspiration to be closer to Europe, is  through such actions rudely violating and neglecting universal  civilizational values.  The protracted blockade of the Lachin  corridor has led to a growing humanitarian crisis that can turn into  a humanitarian catastrophe. The shortage of essential commodities,  food, and medicines has become tangible. In effect, the whole  population of Nagorno- Karabakh has been deprived of the right to  freedom of movement; thousands of people, including children, are  stranded during the cold winter months, and many families have been  forced to split finding themselves on different sides of the  blockade.

Azerbaijan must immediately discontinue the blockade of the Lachin  corridor and, in line with its commitments, guarantee the free  movement of the Nagorno-Karabakh residents and to secure vehicles and  cargo traffic along this lifeline.

We urge all advanced humanity and the respective international  organizations to make all efforts to prevent a potential new genocide  and to defend all the fundamental rights of the Nagorno-Karabakh  population.  We urge the United Nations Secretary General, other  international organizations, and the concerned states to make  immediate efforts for operating the Stepanakert Airport and putting  in place guarantees for delivering emergency humanitarian aid to the  Nagorno-Karabakh population by air.  We reiterate the continued  commitment of the "Hayastan" All Armenian Fund to its mission, which  is entirely based on universal values and humanitarian principles."