Published on: 01/20/2023 – 10:20 am
Since December 12, the Lachin Corridor, the only road connecting this self-proclaimed republic with Armenia, has been blocked by Azerbaijani protesters. Its 120,000 Armenian residents are trapped in growing insecurity.
“We have been used to power outages, gas, water for two years. But because of this blockage and the fear of starvation, life is disrupted like never before,” says Yana, 21 years old. For this weak-voiced young teacher stuck in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, the ordeals are interconnected.
Azerbaijani fighters have been blocking the Lachin corridor for forty days. This 32-kilometer mountain road separates Armenia from Nagorno-Karabakh, a self-proclaimed republic during the collapse of the USSR that was mostly inhabited by Armenians. These Azerbaijanis are demonstrating day and night, armed with their flags and some placards, against the exploitation of natural resources in the region. Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of being behind these protests to block the road and cause a humanitarian crisis for the 120,000 people living on the other side. Baku denies these allegations altogether.
danger of starvation
About 15,000 tons of food and medicine have not been able to reach the enclave for more than a month. “People think back to the dark past with a nightmarish vision of the future,” says Yana. The internet connection is getting weaker and the electricity is partially out. “We feel isolated, like we’re trapped in a desert that nobody has heard of.”
The (de facto) Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh for Armenians), Ruben Vardanyan, has set up a crisis team. The cuts now last four hours a day, divided into sectors. Most schools have closed. Since the beginning of the crisis, companies have not been able to work normally. More than 700 closed their doors, 3,400 people lost their jobs.
Gas is about survival in a region where temperatures can reach -10 degrees. The only gas supply pipeline runs under an Azerbaijan-controlled district that Yerevan accuses of cuts. Intermittent gas shutdowns have long been the focus of tensions between the two countries. The supply is therefore made with internal resources, which are very limited. For the defender of the rights of Nagorno-Karabakh (de facto), the situation is not surprising. “It was obvious that Azerbaijan would use this lever to intimidate people, especially in winter,” explains Gegham Stepanyan. And there is no reason why they should not apply this method to our critical infrastructure.”
In Stepanakert, Nina, 22, denounces a strategy of psychological terror: “It’s inhuman. They provoke us to urge our traitor leaders to give them more land in exchange for opening the road. But we want most of our relatives to survive.” In the first war, the situation was much worse. We’d just like veggies. At the moment we only eat pasta, grain products.”
In supermarkets, the shelves are empty. On Wednesday, January 18, the population received coupons for the first time, a system set up by local authorities to regulate the consumption of imported products. In view of the shortages, an alternative system is introduced: “In the villages we try to exchange eggs and potatoes for fuel. And in order to have cigarettes, the men are ready to exchange everything,” says Yana. The two young women describe an anxious but calm population. “That’s because the famine isn’t here yet,” says Nina.
International Reactions
The most concrete help is in the few trucks sent by the Red Cross. Zara Amatuni, communications manager of the Armenian delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, tells France 24 that between December 19 and January 18, twelve trips made it possible to hospitalize thirty-six patients in critical condition in Armenia. “We stand ready to facilitate further humanitarian operations of this type and others in our role as a neutral mediator.”
Voices outside of Armenia are getting louder. Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch call for freedom of movement in the Lachin Corridor. In a recent report, HRW warns of the risk of “catastrophic humanitarian consequences”: “The longer the disruption of essential goods and services, the greater the risk to civilian populations.” The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights make the same callwhile the Lemkin Institute for the Prevention of Genocide regularly warns of the danger of ethnic cleansing hanging over Nagorno-Karabakh.
A resolution condemning the closure of the road and calling on Azerbaijan to “reopen it immediately” was voted on Thursday, January 19, in the European Parliament. The resolution insists on the need for the area to be accessible to international organizations as well as “a United Nations or OSCE fact-finding mission”. In addition, MEPs blame “the inaction of the Russian armed forces present in the region” while emphasizing that they “should be replaced by OSCE international blue helmets”.
For its part, Armenia blames the Russian soldiers responsible for securing the road for failing to prevent its closure while Moscow is being monopolized by its offensive in Ukraine. There is a growing sense of resentment and bitterness in Armenia towards its longtime ally, especially given its inaction during the recent Azerbaijani offensive on Armenian territory.
For the Armenians, the international reactions are to be welcomed, although some regret that no sanctions project against Azerbaijan is envisaged. “Our supplies are empty. In order to prevent the humanitarian catastrophe, we need the UN,” emphasizes Gegham Stepanyan. For his part, Ruben Vardanyan, in an interview granted to France 24 on Wednesday, denounced an ambivalent reaction on the part of the European Union. “Azerbaijan recently signed an important gas deal with the European Union. The parties that continue to trade with Azerbaijan accept an autocratic regime that is trying to destroy a democratic model: Artsakh,” he stresses.
Azerbaijan still denies that the road is blocked and the situation is deadlocked. Last fall, the fragile outlines of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan began to take shape. Current events make such a result unrealistic. Azerbaijan’s position on Nagorno-Karabakh is clear, as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated: “Karabakh is an integral part of Azerbaijan. The rights and safety of residents of Armenian origin living in this region are guaranteed in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan.”
A “security” that the Armenians do not believe in at all. In Stepanakert, Nina does not take such statements seriously: “If you see how they treat us, how could we trust them and want to live with them? I’m sure we could never survive.”