Lachin corridor: "A humanitarian response alone is not sufficient; a  political solution is needed" - PACE

ArmInfo. At the end of an urgent debate on 'Ensuring free and safe access through the Lachin  Corridor', the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) today [June 22] expressed its extreme concern by events which have unfolded since the signature of the Trilateral Statement on 9  November 2020, and which culminated on 12 December 2022 with the interruption of the free and safe passage through the Lachin corridor and the subsequent deliberate cutting of electricity and gas supplies to the region.

While fully recognising Azerbaijan's concern to ensure security  within its territory and at its borders, "the Assembly is struck by  the fact that its leadership does not acknowledge the very serious  humanitarian and human rights consequences stemming from the present  situation".

Adopting a resolution, based on the report prepared by Paul Gavan  (Ireland, UEL), the Assembly underlined that Azerbaijan has "the  responsibility to protect and ensure the security of everyone living  within its internationally recognised borders". Drawing international  attention to the situation at the Lachin corridor and its human  rights and humanitarian consequences "is necessary in recalling this  responsibility".

Recognising that the absence of free and safe access through the  Lachin corridor "is part of a much broader issue", the Assembly  expressed its conviction that "a humanitarian response alone is not  sufficient and that a political solution is needed". It urgently  called for addressing the issues of the rights and security of the  Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh through dialogue between Baku  and Khakendi/Stepanakert and a neutral international involvement in  any peace implementation mechanism to be put in place.

Noting that the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to  urgently "take all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded  movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in  both directions", the Assembly called on Azerbaijan to also comply  with this order urgently.

While noting that the mirror applications brought by Azerbaijan  against Armenia were rejected by both international courts, the  Assembly believes that Armenia must also play a role in de-escalating  the tensions, and that it should be open to some form of  international monitoring with the aim of assessing the veracity of  Azerbaijan's allegations regarding the illegal weapons being brought  into Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Assembly is extremely worried by the "hostile and threatening  rhetoric" used against Armenians at the highest level of Azerbaijan's  leadership and urged Azerbaijan to repudiate such rhetoric and take  steps to tackle both hate speech, including by public and high-level  officials, and hate crimes. Also aware of hate speech being used by  individuals in Armenia; it likewise urged Armenia's leadership "to  condemn such hate speech" and the authorities to take appropriate  measures to punish it.

The Assembly called on Azerbaijan to invite a Council of Europe  delegation to visit the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh for a  fact-finding mission, to assess the situation on the ground.

While welcoming the mutual recognition of the territorial integrity  of Armenia and Azerbaijan and seeing this as the first steps towards  the end of a conflict which has already caused too many deaths and  tragedies on both sides, the Assembly recalled that for more than 30  years, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in conflict, and that both  countries committed themselves to settle the conflict through  peaceful means upon accession to the Council of Europe in January  2001.