11:27,
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 16, ARMENPRESS. The illegal blockade of Lachin corridor led to a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh, and the humanitarian crisis deteriorated further as a result of the energy blockade, and simultaneously an environmental crisis is happening, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan said.
“Yesterday, on the 66th day of the illegal blockade of Lachin corridor, Azerbaijan restored natural gas supply to Nagorno Karabakh, only to cut it off again two hours later. The last time Azerbaijan shut down the natural gas supply pipeline of Nagorno Karabakh was on February 7, which it had opened on January 29. Electrical energy supply into Nagorno Karabakh is blocked since January 9, 2023. The illegal blockade of Lachin corridor led to a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh, and the humanitarian crisis deteriorated further as a result of the energy blockade, and simultaneously an environmental crisis is happening because in order to heat their apartments the population of Nagorno Karabakh is forced to use wood, for which forests are logged. This is an undisputed proof exposing the made up environmental motives of the blockade of Lachin corridor, and that the actions of Azerbaijan have one goal – to complete their policy of subjecting the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh to ethnic cleansing,” PM Pashinyan said. He added that if so far the international community was treating this claim by Armenia skeptically, then now this is becoming more and more obvious.
PM Pashinyan noted that it is no coincidence that in the past three months the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention issued three statements on the illegal blockade of Lachin corridor and the rhetoric of the Azerbaijani leadership.
“In one of these statements, published on January 18, 2023, the Lemkin Institute asked world leaders to treat the threat of genocide facing the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh seriously. This warning must become dire with every day across the world and the efforts made in this direction must be continual,” the PM concluded.