flour and medicine
Aid supplies reach Nagorno-Karabakh
September 18, 2023, 4:30 p.m
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there have been repeated deadly conflicts on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. Due to the blocked roads, there is now a “severe shortage” of food, medicine and fuel. The first aid supplies are now arriving.
Amid tensions between the feuding Caucasus states of Armenia and Azerbaijan, trucks carrying aid supplies have reached the embattled Nagorno-Karabakh region. The passage of Red Cross vehicles through the Lachin Corridor and Agdam Street has been ensured, Hikmet Hajiyev, foreign policy advisor to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, said in online media. Nagorno-Karabakh authorities confirmed that 23 tons of wheat flour from Armenia and medical supplies had been delivered to their territory.
The Lachin Corridor connects Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia, and the Strait of Agdam connects the region with the rest of Azerbaijan. Armenian separatists and the Azerbaijani authorities had previously agreed to use the two roads.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that thanks to a “humanitarian consensus among decision-makers,” the Red Cross is delivering supplies of wheat flour and medical supplies to people in need through the Lachin Corridor and the Agdam Strait. ICRC Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia Ariane Bauer said the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh urgently need sustained assistance through humanitarian supplies. According to Armenia’s UN Ambassador Mer Margarjan, there is now a “severe shortage” of food, medicine, gas and fuel.
Thousands dead after dispute over region
Azerbaijan and Armenia have been fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh since the collapse of the Soviet Union and have already fought two wars over the area in which predominantly Armenians live. After six weeks of fighting in 2020 with more than 6,500 deaths, Russia brokered a ceasefire agreement that forced Armenia to give up large areas.
Since then, there have been repeated deadly clashes on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. In recent months, tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh have increased significantly again. Armenia had accused Azerbaijan of causing a humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh by blocking the Lachin corridor last year. Baku rejected this and said Nagorno-Karabakh could receive all the goods it needed through Azerbaijan.