Facts show Azeri government’s direct involvement in blockade of Lachin Corridor – Prosecution of Nagorno Karabakh
Posted on December. 30. 2022
STEPANAKERT, ARMENPRESS. The General Prosecution of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) has debunked the statements made by Azerbaijani authorities who falsely claim that the Lachin Corridor is not closed and is safe for traffic.
The Lachin Corridor is blocked by Azerbaijan since December 12.
Azerbaijani authorities continue to claim that they have no participation in the so-called environmental campaign, but the prosecution of Nagorno Karabakh issued a statement showing the facts which prove otherwise.
“The combination of certain facts, as well as facts gathered as a result of criminal-judicial and tactical-intelligence operations allow us to make certain conclusions and records which entirely change the whole logic of the actions and expose the true goals of the Azerbaijani side’s statements.
In accordance to the clause 1 of the 9 November 2020 trilateral statement, “The Republic of Azerbaijan and the Republic of Armenia, hereinafter referred to as the “Parties,” shall stop in their current positions”. It is obvious from the clause that it pertains to the states, and not the armed forces, subsequently the parties had assumed the obligation of not violating a certain line of contact, which Azerbaijan has not implemented. The persons describing themselves as environmentalists reached the part of the road linking Artsakh with Armenia which they blocked accompanied by Azerbaijani state bodies, because after the 44-Day War of 2020 the free movement in the territories that have gone under Azerbaijani control is banned. Former and current intelligence or military operatives are among the Azerbaijani nationals who are located in the blocked section of the road connecting Artsakh with Armenia, furthermore, members of state-funded NGOs are involved. In response to Armenia’s interstate application to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Azerbaijan officially announced that the road is closed by Russian peacekeepers, whereas published videos prove otherwise. In written explanations to the ECHR, Azerbaijan ruled out its government’s participation or organization in the process “of the environmentalists being located in the Lachin Corridor”, while in that case the Azerbaijani side’s statements and claims on the road being safe and guaranteed for traffic are perplexing. Persons who have publicly made and displayed anti-Armenian speeches and conduct, proudly posted statements advocating hate on social media or photos showing them posing with the convicted murderer of an Armenian person have explicitly participated in the blockade of the road connecting Artsakh with Armenia. In such conditions, statements on the road being “open and safe” are a deception and attempts to mislead the international community. In conditions of having committed brutal atrocities against the peaceful population, known to the public from the 2020 44-Day War, Azerbaijan is offering this same population of Artsakh an “unhindered and safe” connection with Armenia through the blocked part of the road,” the Nagorno Karabakh general prosecution said in a statement.