Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, addressing an emergency session of the OSCE Special Permanent Council today, called on the international community to take immediate steps to lift the ongoing Azerbaijani blockade of the Lachin Corridor.

Mirzoyan described the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh as dire and that Armenians in Artsakh “are on the verge of starvation.”

He accused Azerbaijan of neglecting a February 22 legally binding order obligating it to take all necessary measures to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles and cargo along the Lachin corridor in both directions.

Mirzoyan said Azerbaijan’s periodic blocking of the gas supply to Artsakh from Armenia, its obstruction of agricultural work in Karabakh, the growing shortage of medical supplies, and the ban on transporting medical patients to Armenia constitute a “blatant violation International Humanitarian Law and a breach of the Geneva Conventions and the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

Mirzoyan said while Armenia is committed to continuing its efforts for normalization of relations and opening a new era of peace in the region and is ready to recognize Azerbaijan’s 86,600 square kilometers, which includes Nagorno-Karabakh, “the respect for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan should not and cannot be misinterpreted and used as a license for ethnic cleansings in Nagorno-Karabakh.”

“Although talks with Azerbaijan continue, further deterioration of the situation on the ground in Nagorno-Karabakh risks to seriously harm the ongoing political process. Thus, all the partners interested in peace and stability in the South Caucasus should take concrete actions. The situation is crystal clear: pressuring Azerbaijan to open the Lachin corridor will greatly contribute to the peace prospects of our region,” Mirzoyan said, adding that an international mission must be sent to Karabakh to assess the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding there.

Read full text of Mirzoyan’s remarks HERE.