ArmInfo.On the eve of April 24th, Azerbaijan in direct violation of the 2020 trilateral statement, and in continuation of its genocidal pattern against the Armenian people, has established a checkpoint on the Lachin Corridor - which has been blockaded since December 12, 2022, under the pretext of environmental protests further restricting the right of free movement of people, reads a statement by the Armenian Assembly of America (AAA).
"Please take a moment and urge your Member of Congress to speak out by noting in their April 24th statement that the threat of another genocide is clear, that all aid to Azerbaijan must end and the waiver of Section 907 be revoked. "Further, Aliyev and the perpetrators of gross human rights violations must be held accountable through sanctions. Finally, the US must provide direct aid to Artsakh and increase military assistance to Armenia to defend democracy. "This step carried out by the armed forces of Azerbaijan today cannot even be considered as another provocation of Azerbaijan: it is really a flagrant violation of one of the fundamental provisions of November 9, 2020, Trilateral statement, aimed at the consistent implementation of Azerbaijan's policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and the complete annihilation of Armenians from Nagorno- Karabakh. The continuous illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor since December 12, 2022, under fabricated environmental pretexts and the installation of a checkpoint under false and groundless pretexts today is the continuation of the consistent implementation of this planned policy," the Armenian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "It is no coincidence that Azerbaijan and Turkey are acting this way around the date, we mourn our ancestors who were the victims of the first genocide of the 20th century. Please help us to make sure history does not repeat itself."
On April 23, Azerbaijan officially announced the establishment of a checkpoint on the Lachin-Stepanakert road. In doing so, Azerbaijan's State Border Service cited "continuing military supplies from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh."
Authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have accused Baku of violating the terms of the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement under which the road passing through a five-kilometer-wide area known as the Lachin corridor should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers.