Following an urgent debate on Thursday 22 June, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a Resolution in which it said it was “struck by the failure of the Azerbaijani leadership to recognise the very serious humanitarian and human rights consequences” arising “from the ban on all transportation through the Lachin corridor and the deliberate cutting off of electricity and gas supplies to the region”.
Blocked since December 2022, this is the only road linking Nagorno-Karabakh, which is mainly populated by Armenians but landlocked in Azerbaijan, to Armenia.
In February 2023, the International Court of Justice ordered Azerbaijan to “urgently take all measures at its disposal to ensure the free movement of persons, vehicles and goods”, recalled the Assembly, which calls on Baku to comply with this order as a matter of urgency.
Based on the report prepared by Irish MEP Paul Gavan (European United Left), the resolution denounces the “hostile and threatening rhetoric“ used against Armenians by the Azerbaijani leadership and also notes the “hate speech” against Azerbaijanis by “individuals” in Armenia.
It calls on the authorities in both countries to condemn and punish these remarks.
Azerbaijan is also urged to invite a Council of Europe delegation to visit the Lachin corridor and Nagorno-Karabakh on a fact-finding mission to assess the situation on the ground.
Access to the area for the rapporteur was refused by Azerbaijan.
More generally, the Assembly recognises that the issue of the Lachin corridor “is part of a much wider problem” and calls for “a political solution”, because “a humanitarian response alone is not enough”.
Link to the Resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/7o7 (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)