Karabakh Armenians reject alternative roads for humanitarian aid Azerbaijani roving ambassador says

Azerbaijani President’s Representative for Special Assignments Elchin Amirbayov has said that Karabakh Armenians are rejecting alternative roads for humanitarian aid.

He made the remarks in an extensive interview with the French newspaper Le Monde, Report informs.

Answering a journalist’s questions about the reasons for the closure of the Lachin road, “due to which about 120,000 residents of Karabakh are facing worsening humanitarian conditions every day,” Ambassador Amirbayov reminded that in accordance with the tripartite statement signed by the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia on November 10, 2020, the Lachin road was to be used exclusively for humanitarian purposes.

Unfortunately, over the past two and a half years, it has been illegally used to rotate the Armenian armed forces deployed in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in violation of all laws. This road was used to deliver weapons to Karabakh and illegally export minerals from Karabakh to Armenia, Amirbayov noted.

By the way, the number of 120,000 is greatly exaggerated, according to our information, about 50,000 people live in the Karabakh region, of which 10,000 are the armed forces of Armenia, the ambassador added.

“That’s why we had to establish a checkpoint on the border with Armenia on April 23 of this year. This post was created in full accordance with the norms of international law, but on June 15 the Armenian side resorted to provocation, seriously injuring our border guard with a shot from the territory of Armenia. It was then that traffic on the Lachin road was temporarily suspended. The road is still open today for medical evacuation,” he noted.

Azerbaijan offers food transportation to meet the basic humanitarian needs of the Armenian population of Karabakh, also using roads from Aghdam and Fuzuli. But the Armenians of Karabakh flatly refuse and it is difficult to explain.

“There is a manipulation and an attempt to mislead the international community. When you are starving, you should not set conditions. What difference does it make which way the much-awaited food will come - through Lachin, or from Aghdam, or Fuzuli? The main thing is to be able to get the necessary products. But there is an artificial politicisation of the issue in order to put pressure on Azerbaijan from outside,” Amirbayov said.