Red Crescent instead of Red Cross ICRC discredits itself

With a persistence worthy of better use, Armenia continues to promote an anti-Azerbaijani smear campaign in connection with the situation on the Lachin road. It is trying to push this topic onto the agenda of all possible international platforms, flooding global organizations with false statements about "hunger" and "humanitarian crisis" on that piece of Karabakh land still controlled by the separatist leaders.

At the same time, the Armenian side firmly rejects the Aghdam-Khankandi road proposed by Azerbaijan as an alternative for the transportation of humanitarian and other goods. And this is despite the fact that the road fully meets all the parameters for the transportation of goods and people, and thus will be able to meet all the needs of the Armenian residents of the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan.

Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) oversees the delivery of humanitarian and other cargoes to Khankandi, whose activities have recently made Azerbaijan increasingly wary. This is due to the following reasons: firstly, the ICRC has a biased position towards Azerbaijan since the First Karabakh War (1988-1994). Negative manifestations of the Red Cross continued during the Second Karabakh War (2020). There were no changes in the ICRC's very differentiated attitude towards Armenia and Azerbaijan in the future. However, the leadership of this organization believes in vain that Baku has not paid attention to this.

To begin with, the office of this international organization in Khankandi - on the internationally recognised territory of Azerbaijan - does not report to the Baku office, but for some reason works with the Yerevan office. Secondly, with the connivance, or rather complicity, of its staff, Armenians smuggle prohibited goods and even people using ICRC vehicles. And there is evidence of this, both documentary and physical. Let us cite one of the latest facts. Last month, ICRC officers were caught red-handed with smuggled cargo at the Lachin border checkpoint. In the course of the proceedings, it became clear that they had long been involved in smuggling in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In the first week of July alone, during the inspection of ICRC vehicles, Azerbaijani border guards found many undeclared goods: cell phones and technical accessories, almost a thousand packs of cigarettes of various denominations, and 1,320 litres of gasoline.

Naturally, Baku demanded that the ICRC should not abuse its humanitarian mandate for political purposes. In response to the insinuation spread by this international organization about the allegedly difficult humanitarian situation in the region, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry firmly stated that "the shelling of the Lachin border checkpoint on the border with Armenia on June 15, 2023, and the attempts to smuggle contrabands into Azerbaijan in July by Armenian drivers using ICRC vehicles are considered by Baku as illegal activities against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan, as well as the creation of obstacles to the work of the checkpoint".

It should be noted that, while preventing attempts at illegal activities by Armenia, at the same time the Azerbaijani side continued its cooperation with the ICRC, creating conditions for Armenian residents, with the support of the Red Cross, to continue crossing the border checkpoint for medical purposes, but in compliance with the necessary rules. As a result, hundreds of Armenian residents crossed the border checkpoint in both directions.

Official Baku is entitled to demand from the ICRC that its activities be carried out in agreement with Baku and in accordance with the rules it has established on its sovereign territory. The fact that Azerbaijan openly calls on the International Committee of the Red Cross for its logistics of movement through the country's territory is fully in line with international legal norms. And since the ICRC continues to ignore the provision imposed by the country on absolutely legal grounds, Azerbaijan is entitled to an alternative option to address the humanitarian needs of the Karabakh Armenians through the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society.

It should be recalled that, in addition to ICRC offices in various countries, there are national Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies, which are united in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), headquartered in Geneva. It should be emphasized that this is not a state organization - it is a non-partisan humanitarian structure that enjoys high confidence and has a positive reputation in the international arena.

Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society has been functioning since 1920. It is the largest humanitarian organization in the country, which is a part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The headquarters of the national society is located in Baku. Back in March 2020, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, President Ilham Aliyev noted that this organization, which is the heritage of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), from the very beginning has made selfless service to the people its goal.

“The Red Crescent Society has always helped the victims of wars, natural and man-made disasters, socially needy segments of the population and at the same time provided people with moral support, instilled in them faith in the future. It is also commendable that the Red Crescent Society, which has always been distinguished by sensitivity and efficiency in difficult moments for our people, remaining true to its goal, continued selfless activities in solving the social and everyday problems of more than a million of our compatriots expelled from their homes as a result of the occupation policy Armenia against our republic, the release of prisoners and hostages, their subsequent rehabilitation. Today, the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, successfully implementing a number of social, medical and humanitarian projects as an integral part of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, is one of the active participants in the implementation of important tasks across the country,” President Ilham Aliyev said.

That is, there is no reason to doubt that the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society can successfully contribute to meeting the humanitarian needs of the Karabakh Armenians. This means that there is no need for an ICRC office in Khankandi as such. If the Karabakh Armenians do not accept humanitarian aid from the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society, then this will become another proof, firstly, of the unwillingness to reintegrate into Azerbaijani society, and secondly, the absence of any hint of “famine” in the zone the Russian peacekeepers temporarily deployed. After all, as we have already noted in one of our publications if you are hungry, eat an apple, but if you do not want an apple, then you are not hungry.