The longer humanitarian convoy remains blocked, the more it shows Azerbaijan doesn’t actually want peace – Swedish MP

YEREVAN, JULY 29, ARMENPRESS. The longer the Armenian humanitarian convoy remains blocked the more it will show that Azerbaijan doesn’t actually want peace, Swedish Member of Parliament Arin Karapet said after visiting the area near Kornidzor village where the trucks carrying emergency food and medical aid for Nagorno-Karabakh are stuck.

Karapet was accompanied by the Armenian Prime Minister’s aide Hakob Abrahamyan. The Swedish lawmaker said he’s come to Kornidzor to see the situation on the ground with his own eyes.

“Unfortunately, neither the cargo nor we are able to pass through the corridor. Over 120,000 residents of Artsakh have been under blockade for nearly eight months. The whole world can see that the cargo can’t pass,” Karapet said.

The legislator said that Armenia, the EU, the United States and Sweden must do everything possible for the humanitarian convoy to reach its destination. “The Lachin Corridor must be opened, there is no other way,” Karapet said.

Azerbaijan has been ignoring multiple calls by the international community to open the corridor.

“The longer this cargo remains stuck here, it will show that Azerbaijan doesn’t want peace. If it really were to want peace, it would let the cargo through, so that people don’t starve to death. You can’t claim you want peace and at the same time cause hunger for 120,000 people,” Karapet said.

Speaking about Azerbaijan’s statements claiming that they will allow goods to pass only through Aghdam, the Swedish MP said that these statements are the political game of Azerbaijan and that the whole world is calling for the reopening of the Lachin Corridor.

He added that the longer Azerbaijan keep the convoy blocked the more the EU will make appropriate conclusions on Azerbaijan. At the same time, Karapet said that the EU is working slowly.

Armenian government official Vardan Sargsyan, a member of the task force in charge of responding to the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh, said that there are no news at this moment regarding the convoy's fate. “The humanitarian situation is getting worse hour by hour,” he said, calling for practical steps to overcome the deep humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh.

An Armenian humanitarian convoy carrying emergency food and medical aid to Nagorno-Karabakh remains blocked by Azerbaijan at the entrance of Lachin Corridor for the third day.

Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and the rest of the world, has been blocked by Azerbaijan since late 2022. The Azerbaijani blockade constitutes a gross violation of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, which established that the 5km-wide Lachin Corridor shall be under the control of Russian peacekeepers. Furthermore, on February 22, 2023 the United Nations’ highest court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - ordered Azerbaijan to “take all steps at its disposal” to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions. Azerbaijan has been ignoring the order ever since. Moreover, Azerbaijan then illegally installed a checkpoint on Lachin Corridor. The blockade has led to shortages of essential products such as food and medication. Azerbaijan has also cut off gas and power supply into Nagorno-Karabakh, with officials warning that Baku seeks to commit ethnic cleansing against Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Hospitals have suspended normal operations.