Former secretary general of NATO reiterates call on Azerbaijan to unblock Lachin corridor

YEREVAN, March 28. /ARKA/. In an interview with CBC, former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen reiterated his call for pressing Azerbaijan to make it reopen the Lachin corridor.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who is now head of Rasmussen Global advisory firm, said the international community must help Armenia and prevent a humanitarian disaster in the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, ‘because Azerbaijan has blocked the only road connecting it to Armenia. And we must put pressure on Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor."

According to him, the EU and the West in general should pay much more attention to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict, because "autocratic Azerbaijan has been at war with democratic Armenia for quite a long time.’

After visiting Armenia earlier this month former NATO Secretary General urged the European Union to pressure Azerbaijan to end its “inhuman” blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Rasmussen also visited the Armenian resort town of Jermuk, which was shelled by Azerbaijani troops during last September’s heavy fighting on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

Speaking to Armenian reporters near the blocked road Rasmussen said the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh could develop into a humanitarian catastrophe.

“That is why I send a very clear message to President lham Aliyev of Azerbaijan: dissolve the blockade today immediately,” he said.

He said the decision of the International Court of Justice obliging Azerbaijan to unblock the Lachin corridor is binding and Azerbaijan’s failure to do so is a violation of international law.

‘I call on the President of Azerbaijan to stop the blockade. He can do so. We know that the EU has an energy agreement with Azerbaijan. This can be an excellent platform to show the President of Azerbaijan that he cannot violate international law and remain unpunished," Rasmussen said. -0-