THE HAGUE (Reuters) – An Armenian representative told International Court judges on Monday that a blockade of the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region by neighboring Azerbaijan was intended to allow for “ethnic cleansing”.
The Lachin corridor is the only route by which Armenia can supply food, fuel and medicine to Nagorno-Karabakh, a region internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but home to an estimated 120,000 ethnic Armenians.
The corridor has been blocked since Dec. 12, when demonstrators claiming to be environmental activists stopped traffic by setting up tents. Azerbaijan denies any blockade, saying the activists are staging a legitimate protest against illegal mining activity.
Monday’s hearing at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) was convened to hear an Armenian request for the court to order Azerbaijan to lift the blockade.
Armenia’s representative Yeghishe Kirakosyan told the court that the blockade had led to food rationing and dwindling medicine supplies in Nagorno-Karabakh, while Azerbaijani authorities said ethnic Armenians were free to leave.
“Such blatant acts of ethnic cleansing have no place in the modern era and this tribunal is the last hope for the ethnic Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh,” declared Kirakosyan.
Nagorno-Karabakh has been a flash point between the South Caucasus neighbors for decades.
The ICJ hearing is part of a larger lawsuit Armenia filed in 2020 saying Azerbaijan had violated a convention against racial discrimination. Baku has filed a lawsuit alleging that it is Armenia, not Azerbaijan, that is violating the discrimination convention.
(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg)
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