Author: Kanayan Tamar

Christians Suffer under Blockade, ‘Genocide” in Artsakh

By Linda Burkle, Ph.D., ICC Fellow 

With many conflicts globally, most prominently the Russian war on Ukraine, there has been little attention given to the present plight of Armenian Christians living in a disputed region referred to as the Republic of Artsakh.  

Decades long fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan resulted in ethnic Armenians being in control of this breakaway region and seven surrounding districts within Azerbaijan. During the 2020 war, however, Azerbaijan regained control of all adjacent districts and territory within Nagorno-Karabakh, which is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.  

In November 2020, Russia brokered a peace deal that included having 2,000 Russian peacekeepers patrolling the area, which is jointly monitored with Turkey, a longtime Azerbaijani ally. 

Current Blockade

Since December 12, 2022, government supported Azerbaijani protestors posing as environmentalists, have blocked the Lachin Corridor, the sole Nagorno-Karabakh land link vital to providing supplies to 120,000 ethnic Armenians living in the mountainous region.  

Only the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Russian peacekeepers have been allowed to pass. However, Azerbaijani has installed military checkpoints making it difficult for even the ICRC to transport patients needing medical care. 

The protestors, called “ecoactivists” include civilian workers, students, and disguised military. The Azerbaijani government supplies tents, food, and incentives for taking part in the blockade. Some are paid and flown from other areas. They contend that the Armenians are running “illegal” ore mines in Karabakh and demand access for inspection.  

The Armenian authorities “have rejected the protesters’ demands as a gross violation of the Russian-brokered agreement from November 2020 that suspended more than a month of intense fighting in the decades-old Armenian-Azerbaijani war over the Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts”. 

The ongoing blockade has created a humanitarian crisis, denying basic needs such as food, energy, access to medical care, school, and internet services to the those living in the region. Grocery shelves are bare, food is rationed, and medical conditions are not being treated.  

In addition, since the blockade began, Azerbaijan has cut off the only gas supply intermittently and damaged infrastructure. Since March 22, 2023, Artsakh has been without a gas supply. The region has also been forced to rely on its own limited production of electricity. The only power line supplying Artsakh was damaged, and Azerbaijan has prevented its repair. Artsakh authorities have resorted to daily 6-hour blackouts to rationing the remaining supply of electricity production.  

As the months wear on, the Armenian government has accused the Azerbaijani government of genocide due to starvation. “Azerbaijan has now cut off all shipments of food, fuel, and other critical supplies to the breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh from Armenia.” . . . “This genocide does not feature crematories or machete attacks. Rather, the blockade of food, oil, medicine, and other essential goods to a protected group should be considered a genocide under Article II (c) of the Genocide Convention, which addresses ‘Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction.” 

To end the blockade, Azerbaijan has presented two options to Artsakh: submit to Baku (Azerbaijan’s Capitol) government rule or the blockade continues, causing continued untold deprivation and suffering. The Armenians have flatly rejected the proposal. “How can we accept humanitarian aid from the country that has led us to this disaster? It is using one hand to strangle us and the other hand to feed us,” said the territory’s de facto president, Arayik Harutyunyan, in a July 24 live-streamed press conference. 

Threat of Genocide 

On July 28, 2023, Armenian Ambassador to the UN Mher Margaryan sent a letter to the UN Security Council asking for an emergency meeting, saying the situation was “on the verge of a full-fledged humanitarian catastrophe” and urging international intervention to prevent genocide. He accused Azerbaijan of blocking the Lachin Corridor where trucks carrying 400 tons of humanitarian aid were denied passage. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan leaders insist that the road is open for humanitarian cargo, emergency services, and peacekeepers.  

Thomas Becker, a Senior Clinical Supervisor at the University Network for Human Rights, has made three fact-finding trips to Armenia within the last year. He and his team from Yale and Harvard documented bombings of buildings, homes, and other sites. He said, “Perhaps most unsettling were the videos we were shown by a woman who fled her village of Azerbaijani soldiers beheading and mutilating the bodies of her neighbors. Azerbaijan’s preparation, persecution, dehumanization, and denial—each considered a “stage” of genocide—has prompted Genocide Watch to issue a genocide warning about Armenians under attack by Azerbaijan. Others in the global community, including the United States, have also expressed alarm.”  

Becker noted that the Armenians have endured “decapitations, sexual mutilation, cultural destruction, dehumanizing statements by authorities, and a constant threat of attacks—all coming from Azerbaijan, with direct military and economic support from Turkey, the successor nation of the Ottoman Empire”… “what concerned me most on my recent fact-finding trip to Armenia, my third in the last year, is that the rights abuses I had previously witnessed in Nagorno-Karabakh—including indiscriminate killings, torture, and arbitrary detention—are now being carried out by Azerbaijan in sovereign Armenian territory with impunity.” 

The threat of genocide is very real. “Over the past decade, Azerbaijani officials have invoked language used in the Rwandan genocide and the Holocaust, referring to Armenians as a ‘cancer tumor’ and a ‘disease” to be “treated.’ More recently, the country’s authoritarian leader Ilham Aliyev has threatened to ‘drive [Armenians] away like’ dogs’ and ‘treat’ Armenians because they are ‘sick’ with ‘a virus’ [that] has permeated them.” The Baku government even issued a 2020 commemorative stamp depicting a person in a hazmat suit ‘cleansing’ Nagorno-Karabakh.” Furthermore, Aliyev said the goal is total elimination of Armenians in the region. 

International Response 

A group of non-governmental and humanitarian organizations, including International Christian Concern (ICC), issued an urgent plea to the international community saying that genocide is a present danger.  

“The current Azerbaijani aggression against the Armenians of Nagorno Karabakh conforms to a long pattern of ethnic and religious cleansing of Armenian and other Christian communities in the region by the government of Azerbaijan, the Republic of Turkey, the Ottoman Empire, and their partisans.  We call on all contracting parties to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Russian Federation, to fulfill their obligations, through the UN Security Council, to prevent another chapter of the Armenian Genocide.”  

On January 18, 2023, the European Parliament issued a resolution condemning the blockade and urging Azerbaijan at once “reopen the Lachin corridor to enable free movement and ensure access to essential goods and services, thus guaranteeing security in the region and safeguarding residents’ livelihoods.” The resolution also called for the unimpeded access of international organizations and the UN to assess the situation and supply necessary humanitarian aid. In addition, it asserted the need for a comprehensive peace agreement, as well as replacement of Russian peacekeepers with international peacekeepers under UN mandate, given the Russian peacekeepers cooperation with the protesters.  

The International Court of Justice and the U.S. Department of State also condemned the blockade. In a written statement, the U.S. diplomats warned that the Azerbaijani blockade “sets back the peace process and undermines international confidence” as well as creates “a grave humanitarian situation.” The United States has stopped, however, short of imposing any sanctions on Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) is trying to address the needs of displaced Armenians.  

On June 29, 2023, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken met with foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan to come to an agreement. The talks are to continue but have made little progress. 

On August 16, 2023, the UN Security Council met with representatives of Armenia and Azerbaijan. Without issuing a formal statement, all 15 members called for the reopening of the Lachin Corridor. U.N. humanitarian coordinator Edem Wosornu reported to the council that the International Committee of the Red Cross, has been blocked from transporting food since June 14 and medicine since July 7, in violation of international humanitarian law, requiring all parties to rapidly deliver aid. 

Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan warned the council that starvation is imminent without “without immediate dramatic change this group of Armenians will be destroyed in a few weeks.” He said it was the duty of the Security Council to prevent another genocide. Azerbaijan’s U.N. Ambassador Yashar Aliyev responded by “categorically rejecting all unfounded and groundless allegations on (a) blockade or humanitarian crisis propagated by Armenia against my country,” accusing the Armenians of provoking a political campaign to undermine Azerbaijan’s sovereignty.  

Conclusion 

Unless there is immediate reopening of the Lachin Corridor and restoration of essential goods and services, undoubtedly more Armenian Christians living in the Republic of Artsakh will die. This is a travesty that cannot be ignored. The international community must impose sanctions and treat this blockade as an act of genocide. Meanwhile, International Christian Concern implores all Christians to pray for those suffering and contact their respective government officials to urge action.  

Armenia has told the United Nations that Azerbaijan is carrying out genocide and warning of war in the disputed mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Armenia’s foreign ministry said the Armenian-populated city of Stepanakert is running out of food, medicine and fuel after being blockaded by the Azerbaijani security forces for two months.

“The situation has already resulted in a recorded increase in mortality. Today, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh are on the verge of a full-fledged humanitarian catastrophe,”
said the statement, which called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council.

Stepanakert, with around 120,000 residents, is the largest city in Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan regained control over large parts of Nagorno-Karabakh after defeating Armenia in a 44-day war that started in September 2020.

Since the war, the de facto regional capital’s main link to Armenia has been along a road through the so-called Lechin corridor. Since December, Azerbaijani environmental demonstrators have blocked the road followed by the establishment of a military checkpoint in mid-June.

The International Red Cross and Russian troops monitoring the 2020 ceasefire until June had been able to deliver aid. But a border skirmish in June between Armenian and Azerbaijani soldiers prompted Azerbaijan’s president, Ilham Aliyev, to tighten the blockade.

Azerbaijan says its checkpoint to Stepanakert is stopping smuggling. It offers access to Stepanarkert via a longer, more complicated route through territory it controls.

The first bilateral war broke out in the early 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and there have been repeated clashes on the undefined border ever since.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan claims Russia has failed to uphold its peacekeeping responsibilities and is ignoring Baku’s aggression because it is concentrating on its Ukrainian war.

In May, Pashinyan controversially announced that he would recognise Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan on the condition that its ethnic Armenian population received rights and security guarantees.

But the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, calling itself the Republic of Arzakh, have refused any proposed integration with Azerbaijan.

Aliyev has also dismissed talk of integration, calling for the Republic of Arzakh to be dissolved and for Armenians in the enclave to be integrated as “normal, loyal citizens” of Azerbaijan.

Observers say Azerbaijan is enriched by new European Union gas contracts and strengthened by security agreements with Turkey and Israel and its victorious 2020 war.

https://www.eurasiatimes.org/en/13/08/2023/armenia-accuses-azerbaijan-of-genocide-over-nagorno-karabakh-blockade/

Just two weeks after the 15 July EU-facilitated meeting between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Brussels, Yerevan and Baku find themselves once again in a standoff on the Lachin Corridor, the 5 km-wide highway that connects Armenia through Azerbaijan with the besieged former Nagorno Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO).

Since 12 December last year, the mainly ethnic Armenian-populated breakaway region has had this strategic artery through Lachin disrupted and restricted by Baku in continued attempts by Azerbaijan to have its territorial integrity not only restored but also recognised by both Yerevan and Karabakh’s de facto capital, Stepanakert. While Prime Minister Pashinyan says he is ready to do this, Karabakh’s de facto leadership continues to resist.

Another sticking point has been the insistence of Yerevan, Brussels, Washington D.C., and now Moscow that the ethnic Armenian community of Karabakh and official Baku need to engage in direct dialogue. Stepanakert continues to refuse to do so  while so far unconfirmed reports indicate that on 30 July Baku rejected another planned meeting  apparently scheduled for 1 August.

As a result, the imposition of an Azerbaijani border and customs checkpoint at the beginning of the Lachin highway has led to severe shortages of many imported food, hygiene, and fuel products. Meanwhile, the periodic halting of humanitarian aid convoys delivered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Russian peacekeeping contingent have also resulted in severe shortages of medical supplies.

Though it is difficult to fully understand the situation on the ground with little independent or verifiable information filtering out, and social media still showing that restaurants in Stepanakert continue without restriction apart from a cap of 50 on individual group sizes  when dining out, warnings of an impending humanitarian disaster nonetheless appear credible. Before mid-June, in addition to what is grown there, supplies had passed through.

With Azerbaijani social media sharing videos and photographs from Stepanakert’s restaurants, even the region’s human rights ombudsperson spread messages on social media requesting that Karabakh Armenians desist from posting  images from their nights out. “Videos posted on social networks […] which do not reflect the dire situation […] are actively used by the Azerbaijani propaganda machine,” the request read. “[…] please refrain from sharing videos associated with a life of luxury.”

Indeed, most shops and markets are reportedly either bare or now totally empty. What has made matters worse this time has been the lack of fuel, making it close to impossible to distribute  fresh produce from the villages to urban centres. Moreover, though bakeries are still functioning it has also been difficult to supply them with flour and also to distribute loaves  when they are produced.

De facto Karabakh State Minister Gurgen Nersisyan also vowed to take action  against price gouging and a black market for goods that has emerged. There is also increasing concern in Karabakh that Azerbaijan seeks to have the Lachin Corridor, as stipulated by the November 2020 trilateral ceasefire statement, replaced by its own alternative route for supplies via territory fully under its control.

Such concerns increased following the 15 July Aliev-Pashinyan meeting in Brussels when European Council President Charles Michel welcomed Baku’s offer to allow assistance from the formerly occupied city of Aghdam. On 19 July similar remarks  were made by EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar and ten days later by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.

However, the European officials also stressed, any route for humanitarian assistance from Azerbaijan proper to Karabakh via Aghdam should complement and not replace Lachin. Karabakh itself views any use of the additional route to be another attempt to integrate the region into Azerbaijan proper. Official Stepanakert blames Pashinyan for publicly stating that Armenia is ready to recognise Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity including Karabakh.

The EU, U.S., and Russia have called upon Azerbaijan to allow the resumption of all traffic via Lachin. Rallies were subsequently held in both Stepanakert and Yerevan calling for the same though the demonstration in the latter was poorly attended at just a few thousand people. Daily rallies, including outside the United Nations office, have also taken place in the Armenian capital though numbers have so far been small.

Those taking part also collected food stuffs and other items which they demanded the UN transfer to Karabakh. The UN has still yet to respond to the request though that is hardly likely. The protests did nonetheless push the Armenian government to action by sending its own aid convoy of 19 trucks carrying 360 tons of assistance to that section of the Armenia-Azerbaijan adjacent to the start of the Lachin highway and the Azerbaijani checkpoint.

On 27 July the convoy set off from Yerevan after first being checked by invited foreign diplomatic staff in the capital. Azerbaijan had already called the convoy a ‘demonstrative act of sabotage,’ hinting that it too would not be allowed through. At time of writing, the convoy is still parked in the village of Kornidzor and is likely to remain there for some time. The European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) is monitoring the situation.

On Saturday 29 July, however, the impasse on the Lachin Corridor was to escalate further as ICRC continued to transfer patients to and from Karabakh through Lachin when a 68-year-old resident was detained by Azerbaijani border guards. Among 15 patients traveling from Stepanakert to Yerevan, Vagif Khachatryan is accused by Azerbaijan of committing alleged war crimes in the first Karabakh war of the 1990s.

Baku says he has been transferred to a medical facility and ICRC has already visited him in captivity, including with a doctor. Causing outrage in Karabakh, de facto State Minister Nersisyan rallied dozens outside ICRC’s Stepanakert office. “We want you to note that you are unable to ensure the safety of any of the residents of Artsakh [Karabakh],” media quoted him as saying in a rare criticism of the international humanitarian organisation.

“We call for all concerned decision-makers to respect our strictly humanitarian mission,” the ICRC tweeted  as medical evacuations and repatriations once again ground to a halt. “[ICRC calls] on the relevant decision makers to allow the ICRC to resume its essential humanitarian operations in the area,” it also said in a statement  , stressing that it is unable to operate either through Lachin or Aghdam.

“Our humanitarian aid convoys are a lifeline for the population […]” ICRC’s regional director for Eurasia, Ariane Bauer, said. “With these convoys blocked, our concern is that the humanitarian situation will further deteriorate. We are most worried about those who cannot help themselves. The sick and people with chronic diseases are particularly at risk, as are the elderly, infirm and children.”

https://www.balcanicaucaso.org/eng/Areas/Nagorno-Karabakh/Armenia-and-Azerbaijan-at-Odds-Again-on-Key-Highway-After-EU-Facilitated-Talks-226488