United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday expressed concern over the tension in the Lachin corridor, the road linking Armenia and the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
A spokesman for Guterres, Stephane Dujarric, said the secretary-general «follows with concern the ongoing developments around the Lachin corridor,» reads a letter from the agency.
«The secretary-general has urged the parties to reduce tensions and ensure freedom and security of movement along the corridor, in accordance with the agreements previously reached,» the spokesman said.
The Azeri authorities decided to blockade the area and suspend gas supplies, so the local authorities – who began to stockpile fuel to avoid a major crisis in the face of the blockade – asked the population to use cars only when necessary, giving priority to ambulances and minimum services.
The Armenian National Assembly approved on Wednesday a resolution condemning Azerbaijan for the «illegal» blockade imposed on the Lachin corridor.
«As a result of Azerbaijan’s actions, a humanitarian disaster is being caused in Nagorno-Karabakh, human rights and fundamental freedoms are being seriously violated, and the security of Armenians (of the region) is under direct threat,» the resolution reads, Armenpress reported.
The text, adopted with the support of 57 deputies, would have stressed that due to the blockade, residents of Nagorno Karabakh «have been deprived of the right to free movement.» «Thousands of people, including children, have been left stranded on the roads exposed to the cold due to the winter,» says the text, which calls Baku’s actions a «policy of genocide».
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been involved in several clashes in recent years over the control of Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory with a majority Armenian population that has been the focus of conflict since it decided to secede in 1988 from the region of Azerbaijan integrated into the Soviet Union.
