Several news agencies in Armenia today published an open letter bemoaning the fact that while they cannot travel to the blocked section of the Lachin Corridor to report on the situation, Azerbaijani media representatives are on the scene and are often distorting the facts on the ground.

The Armenian news outlets want the Armenian government to immediately initiate negotiations with Russian peacekeepers “to clearly regulate and facilitate” their access to Nagorno Karabakh.

They argue that since the end of the 2020 Artsakh war, news outlets haven’t been able to travel to Artsakh and report on developments there.

“International organizations, especially the United Nations, the European Union and the OSCE, should send observation missions to the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact zone, including the Lachin Corridor, to objectively record the situation and present it to the general public in the form of a report,” the Armenian media agencies write.

They also call on leading global news agencies to send reporters and film crews to the Artsakh conflict zone to actively cover the severe humanitarian crisis caused by the closure of the Lachin Corridor, and thereby prevent Azerbaijani disinformation.

The open letter is signed by the Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech, Yerevan Press Club, Center for Media Initiatives, Public Journalism Club, Asparez Journalists Club, Center for Freedom of Information, Media Diversity Institute-Armenia, Journalists for the Future, Journalists for Human Rights, Goris Press Club, FEMIDA NGO.