Thousands on Sunday rallied in Nagorno-Karabakh’s largest city, Stepanakert, to protest the blockade of the only land link to Armenia.
Baku and Yerevan fought two wars — in 2020 and in the 1990s — over the contested region of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan.
For nearly two weeks Azerbaijani activists have blocked the Lachin corridor, the only land link to Armenia, to protest what they claim is illegal mining.
Photo: AFP
Yerevan has accused Baku of staging demonstrations and creating a humanitarian crisis in the mountainous enclave.
On Sunday, Stepanakert’s main Renaissance Square was flooded with protesters, with a giant Armenian flag hoisted above the crowd.
“We have been under a complete blockade imposed by Azerbaijan, as the only road linking the Artsakh to the outside world is closed,” member of the ombudsman’s office Mary Asatryan said, using the Armenian name for the breakaway province.
“On this holy Christmas Day, we are standing here and call for action, the deliberate blockade of 120,000 people is a crime against humanity,” Asatryan said, addressing the crowd on loudspeakers.
Among the attendees was separatist leader Arayik Harutyunyan.
Others held banners calling for “self-determination” and bearing the slogan “we won’t give up.”
Armenia’s parliament has said Nagorno-Karabakh was suffering from shortages of food, medicine and fuel following the closure of the corridor.
Azerbaijan has said there is no blockade and that civilian vehicles can move freely to and out of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“There is no basis for the claims that the protests on Lachin pose a threat of humanitarian crisis,” the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
However, residents who spoke to reporters were worried.
“This is the only road that connects Artsakh with the rest of the world. Not only Armenia; we reach the rest of the world through Armenia,” 70-year-old Stepanakert resident Donara Gabrielyan said on Saturday.
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