The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Tuesday said that ongoing tensions in the Lachin Corridor in Nagorno-Karabakh “threaten to derail” efforts to resolve the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In a closed session in New York, the Council warned that if the situation in Lachin is not addressed, the region could witness a “dangerous resumption of violence.”
Hundreds of Azerbaijani protesters have blocked the Lachin Corridor for the past nine days, accusing Armenian and Russian soldiers of stealing the region’s natural resources. The corridor is the only road connecting Armenia to the de-facto Armenian-backed Republic of Artsakh, another name for Nagorno-Karabakh, where hundreds of thousands of ethnic Armenians live.
The government, too, has argued Russian and Armenian activities that are destroying the environment, claiming that they have been conducting “illegal” activities in gold and copper mines in the region.
.@AraratMirzoyan at #UNSC: It is already 3rd day that #Azerbaijan has blocked movement through Lachin Corridor - only lifeline of #NagornoKarabakh, which is now essentially cut off from #Armenia and outside world. As we speak, NK ppl have been deprived of right to free movement pic.twitter.com/tHbGdjgpc5
— Anna A. Naghdalyan (@naghdalyan) December 14, 2022
However, Armenia has rejected Azerbaijan’s claims and said it is trying to provoke conflict. In this regard, it has accused Baku of sending state employees to protest, noting that several protesters are military officials disguised in civilian clothes.
The corridor is the only supply route for food and medical supplies to Artsakh. Armenia has blamed Azerbaijan for the death of a citizen in a clinic in Artsakh after he could not be transferred to a hospital in Yerevan for treatment due to the blockade.
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe and Central Asia Miroslav Jenča has urged the two rivals to “deescalate tensions” and ensure “freedom of movement” through the corridor. Furthermore, he has called on the international community to prevent the region from descending into another round of violence.
A huge rally in Yerevan demanding the int’l community to take steps to unblock the Lachin Corridor — Artsakh’s road of life — the only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh to the outside world, which Azerbaijan has been keeping close since Dec 12.
— Anush Ghavalyan (@aghavalyan) December 20, 2022
NK people face humanitarian crisis. pic.twitter.com/JPW8VbHQC0
He has also pushed Azerbaijan and Armenia to respect the ceasefire agreement reached following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war and “redouble efforts for a negotiated peaceful settlement before it is too late.”
Apart from representatives of the 15 UNSC members, Armenia and Azerbaijan’s representatives to the UN also attended the session.
Armenian envoy Mher Margaryan said the “alarming” situation in Nagorno-Karabakh is turning into a “humanitarian catastrophe” because Azerbaijan refuses to end the blockade. Accusing Azerbaijan of the “ethnic cleansing” of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh, Margaryan said Azerbaijan has violated international humanitarian laws and rules against racial discrimination. He called on the international community to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan and asked the UN to deploy a fact-finding mission.
Today we facilitated the transfer of a patient in need of urgent medical assistance across Lachin road to Armenia.
— ICRC (@ICRC) December 19, 2022
As part of our role as a neutral intermediary, we stand ready to continue facilitating such operations. pic.twitter.com/YX3HAZuMAr
“Without strong accountability measures [Azerbaijan] will continue to test the resilience and the determination of the international community and the Council,” Margaryan said.
Azerbaijani representative to the UN Yashar Aliev, however, rejected his Armenian counterpart’s accusations, emphasising that Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan. He accused Armenia of misleading the UNSC by claiming that the Lachin Corridor is blocked.
Aliev stressed that neither his government nor the environmental activists have blocked the corridor and that the movement of goods and vehicles through Lachin remains unchanged. Armenia’s false claims are meant to cover its “illegal military activities” in the region, he said.
#IndiaInUNSC
— India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) December 20, 2022
At the UN Security Council Meeting on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh, Ambassador R. Ravindra, Deputy Permanent Representative made the following remarks ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/99PGwB7KOm
“Armenia is trying to inflict as many human losses as possible to impede Azerbaijan’s reconstruction projects and the return of internally displaced persons to their homes,” Aliev added. Noting that Azerbaijan will continue to defend its territorial integrity, he warned third parties against taking actions that embolden Armenia.
All UNSC members urged the two parties to prevent an escalation of the situation. India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ravindra Raguttahalli, noted that blocking the corridor would “adversely affect” the supply of essential items to Nagorno-Karabakh and “precipitate a humanitarian crisis” in the region. In this respect, he called on both sides to de-escalate tensions and ensure freedom of movement throughout the corridor.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been fighting over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh since their independence in 1991 from the erstwhile Soviet Union. Even though the region has been internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, it remained under Armenian control until 2020.
#Azerbaijani civil society reps & environmental activists are not blocking the #Lachin Road. Trucks bringing in humanitarian supplies from #Armenia are freely passing through. This road was built for humanitarian purposes and should be used as such. pic.twitter.com/sb2yKaPxD5
— Nasimi Aghayev (@NasimiAghayev) December 14, 2022
In September of that year, Azerbaijan launched an offensive to capture Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia. The 44-day war ended with Azerbaijan taking control of part of the region and declaring victory. The conflict resulted in over 6,000 military casualties from Armenia and Azerbaijan, and thousands of civilian deaths. Russia mediated a ceasefire agreement between them and sent thousands of peacekeepers to monitor the situation.
However, the ceasefire deal has failed to prevent occasional skirmishes from erupting. The last round of violence erupted on 12 September and led to an estimated 221 deaths, with 150 from Armenia and 71 from Azerbaijan. Yerevan and Baku accuse each other of violating the ceasefire by sending troops into their respective territories.
The crisis in Lachin could also prove to be a major blow to peace efforts to resolve the conflict. Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders—Nikol Pashinyan and Ilham Aliyev—have met four times this year (once in Russia and thrice in Belgium) under Russian and EU mediation but have failed to resolve their differences.