STEPANAKERT, JULY 19, ARMENPRESS. Citizens in Nagorno Karabakh have closed the Askeran-Akna (Aghdam) road with concrete barriers in a move to show that despite the harsh humanitarian situation Nagorno Karabakh is categorically against receiving any supplies of Azerbaijani goods, be it “humanitarian aid” or "very cheap products".

Demonstrators said that Azerbaijan, by claiming that it wants to send supplies to Artsakh, is actually blackmailing Nagorno Karabakh in an attempt to subjugate it.

Several high-ranking Azerbaijani government officials have been talking about “readiness” to send what they describe as “aid” to Artsakh via the Akna (Aghdam) road. The Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has spoken about this during a number of meetings. The President of the European Council Charles Michel also mentioned the possibility of using this road during a press briefing after his meeting with the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Brussels on July 15.

“We’ve clearly said that this is a red line for us,” Arshak Abrahamyan, a founding member of the Artsakh Security Development Front movement told ARMENPRESS. The Askeran-Akna road is closed by demonstrators from this movement’s youth wing and others.

“Artsakh should maintain its social and economic connections only with Armenia. The removal of the illegal Azerbaijani checkpoint on Hakari Bridge remains a priority in our main demands,” he added, noting that they are calling for a humanitarian air corridor to be established as a short-term and urgent solution to the humanitarian disaster.

“Their statements claiming to be ready to send supplies are an attempt to blackmail and subjugate us,” Abrahamyan added.

Van Novikov