Washington Post: Azerbaijan should unblock Karabakh – and avert another war

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Editorial Board of The Washington Post has published an article about Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, saying that starving the Armenians will get Azerbaijan nothing and urging Baku to unblock Karabakh.

“[Azerbaijani] President Ilham Aliyev, an autocrat who has been cracking down on opposition parties and dissent, said in a May 28 speech marking the settlement of recaptured areas, “I have always said that our territorial integrity must be fully restored.” He demanded that Armenians in Karabakh “bend their necks” and dismantle their “fake” government, and that each of them “abide by the laws of Azerbaijan” and “be a loyal and decent citizen of Azerbaijan.”,” the article reads.

“Azerbaijan and Armenia are engaged in a fragile peace process on other issues, such as mutual sovereign recognition, and according to Tom De Waal, a senior fellow with Carnegie Europe and an expert on the Caucasus region, they are “closer than they have ever been to agreement.” Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan broke new ground, declaring May 22 that he recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, including Karabakh, as long as the rights of the ethnic Armenians there are protected. This won’t be easy, but the two countries seem to be at a crossroads. Mr. Aliyev should grasp that starving the Armenians of Karabakh will get him nothing; lifting the Lachin corridor blockade can help negotiations progress and avert yet another war.”

Since December 12, 2022, the sole road connecting Nagorno Karabakh to Armenia - the Lachin Corridor - has been blocked by Azerbaijan. Baku tightened the blockade on June 15, 2023, banning emergency relief supplies that were carried out by Russian peacekeepers and the International Committee of the Red Cross through the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia and the outside world. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential items experienced by the region’s population. On August 15, Karabakh Human Rights Defender’s office reported the first case of death from starvation.