In a resolution adopted late on Thursday, the PACE deplored the December 2022 “interruption of the free and safe passage through the Lachin corridor and the subsequent deliberate cutting of electricity and gas supplies to the region.”
It said Baku should “urgently” comply with a ruling handed down by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in February. The UN court ordered the Azerbaijani government to “take all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles, and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
“The Assembly stresses that the current situation is not sustainable and may well lead to the Armenian population being forced to leave their homes and communities if there is no resolution to the conflict,” reads the PACE resolution adopted by 48 votes to 16.
“In this context, it urgently calls for addressing the issues of the rights and security of the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh through dialogue between Baku and Khakendi/Stepanakert and a neutral international involvement in any peace implementation mechanism to be put in place,” it says.
Such a mechanism is strongly supported by Armenia but opposed by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said last month that the Karabakh Armenians “will either live under Azerbaijani rule or leave” their homeland.
The PACE resolution does not mention Baku’s decision to completely block the movement of special humanitarian convoys through the Lachin corridor which followed a shooting incident there on June 15. The move aggravated the shortages of food, medicine and other essential items in Karabakh.
Paul Gavan, an Irish lawmaker who drafted the resolution, acknowledged and criticized the tightening of the blockade during a PACE debate that preceded the adoption of the text. Gavan cited information received from European Union’s monitoring mission deployed along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan.
The EU as well as the United States and Russia have repeatedly called for an end to the Azerbaijani blockade. Baku has ignored these appeals.