Human Rights Defender of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) has weighed in on Azerbaijan’s refusal to grant entry to a humanitarian cargo sent from Yerevan on July 26.
In an interview with Artsakh Public TV on July 27, Stepanyan said that Azerbaijan's reaction can hardly be described as “unexpected”.
What is more surprising, he said, is the expectations of optimistsic people, who were hoping for a humanitarian gesture from a state carrying out genocide.
He believes that the silver lining of the situation is that after all this, the real goals of Azerbaijan should become obvious even to the most peaceful people.
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.
