Friday, February 3 2023 14:54

ArmInfo. Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh Sergey Ghazaryan sent letters to ambassadors of a number of countries accredited to Armenia, the press  service of the NKR MFA reports.  In his letter, the Foreign Minister  presented the humanitarian problems in Artsakh caused by the closure  of the Lachin Corridor by Azerbaijan, as well as the negative impact  of natural gas and electricity supply disruptions on people's daily  life and the republic's economy.

It was emphasized that the blockade is not the first attempt by  Azerbaijan to ethnically cleanse Artsakh, but is a direct  continuation of the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan in 2020, as a  result of which a significant part of the territory of Artsakh was  occupied, and 38,000 people became refugees and IDPs.

He noted that Azerbaijan's rejection of the Artsakh government's  offer to conduct an independent international monitoring of the  Kashen mine was yet another proof that the "protest" led by the  Azerbaijani special services pursued a completely different goal,  specifically, to take full control of the Lachin Corridor in  violation of the Trilateral Statement of 9 November 2020.

It was underlined that Azerbaijan's false claims that the road was  open were refuted by the fact that from 12 December 2022 until today,  no vehicle belonging to Artsakh residents passed through the Lachin  Corridor. In fact, only the vehicles of the ICRC and the Russian  Peacekeeping Contingent are allowed to pass through the blocked road.   Moreover, failing to convince the international community of the  allegedly ecological nature of the "protest", the Azerbaijani  authorities claim that the events taking place in the Lachin Corridor  are their internal affair, which they do not have to discuss with any  country. Meanwhile, it is obvious that all the above-mentioned  actions of Azerbaijan pursue one single goal - ethnic cleansing of  Artsakh.

In his letter, Foreign Minister Sergey Ghazaryan urged the foreign  Ambassadors accredited to Armenia to present to their Governments the  real picture of what was happening on the ground. In particular, the  letter said: "We urge you to convey to your Government our appeal to  take effective measures, including imposing sanctions or using other  instruments of pressure, aimed at lifting the blockade of Artsakh and  preventing the criminal intentions of Azerbaijan".