Azerbaijan wants to block Lachin corridor, cutting Artsakh off from Armenia and outside world – Arayik Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, December 7. /ARKA/. Azerbaijan wants to block the Lachin corridor and cut off Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) from Armenia and the outside world, Artsakh President Arayik Harutyunyan said at a meeting yesterday in Paris with the heads of all parliamentary groups of the French Senate and the National Assembly.
Harutyunyan said that Artsakh is connected with Armenia and the outside world by only one road - the 5km-wide Lachin corridor.
“We want the Lachin corridor to have additional international guarantees to ensure uninterrupted communication between Artsakh and Armenia and the outside world,” Harutyunyan was quoted as saying by his press office.
Harutyunyan highly appreciated the consistent efforts of the Senate and the National Assembly aimed at resolving the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict.
“The resolutions adopted by the Senate and the National Assembly of France in support of Artsakh are a good basis for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the conflict between Artsakh and Azerbaijan. Respect for the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination is the only way to resolve the conflict," he stressed.
Both resolutions call on the French government to impose sanctions on Azerbaijan for its attacks against Armenia’s sovereign territory in September 2022 and reaffirm the need to recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic and apply that recognition as a negotiation tool for establishing lasting peace in the region.
According to the president, now the most important task is to translate these political messages into reality, to give them real force.
In this context, he expressed hope that the work on the recognition of the Republic of Artsakh will be completed by the executive power of France, which will prevent a new genocide of Armenians in their homeland.
He said Artsakh expects the active participation of France in the implementation of humanitarian programs, the return of captive Armenians and the rescue of the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage, which is endangered in the territories occupied by Azerbaijan.
A section of that road was blocked by a large group of Azerbaijanis last week for about four hours. Azerbaijani authorities claimed the road section was blocked by Azerbaijani environmentalists who wanted to investigate “illegal” mining activity in Nagorno-Karabakh and its “ecological consequences. It was reopened after the mediation of Russian peacekeepers.-0-
