President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Tiny Kox has called for a Council of Europe fact-finding mission with the aim of assessing the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh where Armenians’ lives have been affected by the absence of free and safe access through the Lachin corridor since 12 December 2022.
“I join the call for dialogue voiced by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on 28 July 2023, and urge both Azerbaijan and Armenia, as Council of Europe member States, to finally live up to their mutual commitment, made on their accession in 1991, to de-escalate tension and restore peace between their countries,” Koxsaid in a statement on Monday, July 31.
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.
