Political Dialogue Between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh Must Begin: Pashinyan

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan addressed the closure of the Lachin corridor and the disruption of electricity supply from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh at the start of a government meeting.

“The illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor by Azerbaijan has been ongoing for 32 days. On Monday, the electricity supply line providing electricity from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh was disrupted. The disruption occurred in an area under the control of Azerbaijan. Until now, no opportunity has been provided for either the relevant services of Nagorno-Karabakh, peacekeepers, or anyone else to carry out restoration work, nor is there any information available about the progress of such efforts. The disruption in electricity supply to Nagorno-Karabakh has created new problems. Power outages have started, as the local capacities for electricity generation are insufficient,” the Prime Minister noted.

He added that kindergartens are not operating fully, including due to the absence of food that meets standards. Workplaces are closing, further exacerbating the social situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

“My assessment remains the same, that Azerbaijan’s illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor aims to break the will of the Armenian population in Nagorno-Karabakh to live in their homeland, but I believe that this will is unbreakable. On the other hand, we must have a clear idea of how to resolve this situation. In this matter, my understanding is that the response from the people and authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh must be asymmetric. First of all, we need to confront the recent developments and their profound meanings and reasons in a way that our assessments of events and situations are based on facts. In this regard, we must avoid political statements that further entrench the situation, as statements unaccompanied by clear ideas about reaching an endpoint are of no benefit. And then, a political dialogue must begin between Azerbaijan and Nagorno-Karabakh, and our partners in Nagorno-Karabakh should not allow anyone to accuse them of obstructing constructive dialogue or making such a dialogue impossible,” Pashinyan stated.

According to Pashinyan, the closure of the Lachin corridor is a provocation, the ultimate goal of which is a new military escalation. “We should not take actions that would be desirable for those developing scenarios of military escalation. One of the purposes of this provocation and military escalation is to obscure the obvious need for political and official dialogue between Baku and Stepanakert and to remove it from the agenda,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan emphasized that no actions should be taken that would contribute to the resolution of this provocative issue. “On the other hand, our diplomatic service, all our agencies and circles with external relations must double their efforts to increase the international visibility of the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh and to make it a subject of discussion in various forums. Enormous work has been done in this regard, but more is needed. The working group created in Armenia to support the people of Nagorno-Karabakh in the management of the established humanitarian crisis must continue to take possible measures to address emerging operational issues,” Pashinyan concluded.