The Board of Trustees of the Hayastan All-Armenian Foundation has issued a statement regarding the blockade of the Lachin corridor, in which it notes that immediate efforts are necessary toward the operation of Stepanakert airport, with the aim of delivering humanitarian assistance by air.
The statement in full is below.
“Since 12 December 2022, Azerbaijan’s complete blockade of the people of Nagorno-Karabakh, which crudely violates the regime of the Lachin corridor established by the trilateral statement of 9 November 2020 and blocks the lifeline connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and the world, has created a most serious existential threat for the approximately 120,000 Armenians living there. With this, Azerbaijan is at minimum creating grounds for forced displacement, thereby pursuing a clear policy of ethnic cleansing.
The population of Nagorno-Karabakh has remained hostage in the hands of a country which, although it aspires to be close to Europe, by its actions of this kind crudely tramples upon and disregards universal civilisational values.
The prolonged blockade of the Lachin corridor has led to a growing humanitarian crisis, which may turn into a humanitarian catastrophe. The shortage of essential goods, food and medicine has become significant. In effect, the entire population of Nagorno-Karabakh has been deprived of the right to free movement; thousands of people, including children, have been left on the roads in the cold of winter, and many families have been involuntarily separated, finding themselves on different sides of the blockade.
Azerbaijan is obliged to immediately cease the blockade of the Lachin corridor and, within the framework of the commitments it has itself undertaken, to guarantee the free movement of the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh along that lifeline and the security of traffic of means of transport and cargo.
We call upon all progressive humanity and the relevant international bodies to invest all their efforts in preventing a possible new genocide, as well as in protecting all the fundamental rights of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
At the same time, we call upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations, other international bodies and interested states to exert immediate efforts toward the operation of Stepanakert airport and to provide guarantees for the delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance by air to the population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
We reaffirm that the Hayastan All-Armenian Foundation remains faithful to its mission, which is entirely founded on universal values and humanitarian principles.”
