Azerbaijan rejects US comments on alleged obstruction in Lachin corridor

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan on Wednesday rejected comments by the US about the Lachin corridor allegedly being obstructed amid protests in the region for more than a month on the road connecting Armenia and the Karabakh region.

“Dear State Department Spokesman, more than 1,000 vehicles bringing supply into the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan proves the opposite of what you said on Jan. 24. It would be appropriate to call on the Armenian side to fulfill obligations and stop illegal activities,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Aykhan Hajizada wrote on Twitter.

The ministry separately slammed the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) for a statement on the situation in the Lachin corridor as "biased, does not reflect the truth and is not related to the organization's mandate."

The statement said it is unacceptable for the UNFPA to issue a statement on "the legitimate protests of Azerbaijanis," reiterating there are no obstacles imposed by protesters on the movement of vehicles and residents on the Lachin road, and claims about protests causing a "humanitarian disaster" in the region are "baseless."

State Department spokesman Ned Price said Tuesday that obstructions on the Lachin corridor are causing shortages of food, fuel, and medicine for residents and he demanded “the full restoration of free movement through the corridor, including commercial and private travel.”

One day earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev dismissed allegations of a blockade on the corridor during a telephone call with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, noting 980 vehicles had used the road since Dec. 12, and more than 850 of those vehicles belonged to Russian peacekeepers in the region, while over 120 belonged to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Since Dec. 12, Azerbaijani ecologists representing nongovernmental organizations had been protesting Armenia's illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Karabakh region, where Russian peacekeepers have been stationed since the aftermath of a 2020 conflict and a January 2021 pact with Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, during 44 days of clashes, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.​​​​​​​