(Yerevan) Armenia on Friday accused Azerbaijan of carrying out a policy of “ethnic cleansing” in the disputed region of Nagorno Karabakh, mainly populated by Armenians, at the center of a conflict between the two countries for several decades.
“The humanitarian situation in Karabakh has deteriorated extremely,” said Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, accusing Baku of blocking vehicle traffic since Thursday via the Lachin corridor, the only road linking the secessionist region to Armenia.
“The food supply to Karabakh has practically ceased and patients cannot go to hospitals in Armenia for their medical treatment,” he said.
PHOTO BERTRAND GUAY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
These actions by Baku “prove that Azerbaijan is pursuing a policy of ethnic cleansing in Karabakh,” Pashinian said.
On April 23, Azerbaijan installed a first checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, an “unacceptable” decision for Yerevan. Baku asserts that this measure is necessary in particular to prevent the circulation of arms.
Previously, the months-long blockage of this corridor by Azerbaijanis posing as environmental activists had already caused a humanitarian crisis with food shortages and power cuts, according to Yerevan.
On May 24, Armenia called on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the main judicial body of the United Nations, to force Baku to lift the blockade.
The two Caucasian countries clashed in two wars in the early 1990s and in 2020 for control of Nagorny Karabakh, a mountainous region mostly populated by Armenians that seceded from Azerbaijan more than three decades ago. .
This first conflict, which claimed 30,000 lives, ended in an Armenian victory.
But Azerbaijan took its revenge in the fall of 2020 during a second war, which left 6,500 dead and allowed it to retake many territories.
Border clashes remain frequent, despite recent progress in peace talks between Baku and Yerevan and increased Western efforts for a peaceful settlement in the region that Russia considers its traditional zone of influence.