Nagorno Karabakh, along the Lacin “corridor”, the humanitarian crisis worsens after 210 days of blockage of the only passage from Armenia: supplies and services are scarce

YEREVAN (AsiaNews) – After 210 days of blockade of the Lacin “corridor” by Azerbaijan, which no negotiations have been able to resolve so far, the Armenian inhabitants of Nagorno Karabakh continue to suffer from lack of supplies and services. The Azeris re-established the gas supplies only for a few hours and without warning, but the fuel was still unable to reach the houses, because while the Artsakhgas company was trying to restart the plants, the pipeline was blocked again, without giving explanations , in a game of push and pull that even seems to take on forms of sadism.

The gas has been missing for three months now. And since the beginning of the year, there hasn’t even been electricity, using local sources that are enough for a few hours a day. The adviser to the Minister of State of Karabakh-Artsakh, Artak Beglaryan, explained that contacts with the Azerbaijanis cannot be established on the issue of supplies: “The main purpose of the limited reopenings may be a strategy to ease pressure from outside to short phases, but I think they serve to throw the local population into total disorientation, making people want to leave their country”.

Between daily hopes and disappointments. “Days that seem to start with some hope always end with great disappointments and a sense of frustration”, confirms the EU special representative in the area, Estonian Toivo Klaar. The Europeans had asked that at least energy supplies be guaranteed without interruption, as well as the free movement of people and goods through the Lacin “corridor”.

The blocking of humanitarian aid. On the other hand, both food products and personal and household hygiene items are missing, and movement on the road is still a challenge. Humanitarian emergencies accumulate in 8 months of blockade, and the life of Armenians in Artsakh is getting worse day by day. For 25 days, after the Azeris raised their flag on the Armenian side of the Khakari bridge, humanitarian aid shipments have also remained stationary, without reaching their destination.

There is no food and only one hour of light a day. As Anat Tonyan, an inhabitant of the village of Noragjukh in the province of Askeran recounts, “there is nothing left to eat, not even fruit, we turn on the light for an hour a day, I don’t know how we will be able to do it”. There is no seed oil or sugar, in the shops you can find at most a little rice, oatmeal polenta and a few packets of pasta. Not even to mention sweets, to the desperation of the children; “We try to grow some cucumbers and tomatoes in the garden,” says Anat.

There is no petrol and we cannot move. The lack of fuel makes it almost impossible to move even within the territory, crowding into the few buses that run on a variable itinerary, with very uneven timetables. The local government has also decided to limit public transport as much as possible, publishing timetables to be kept with care; in some villages the bus comes only once every three to four days.

Azerbaijan’s version. As told by another inhabitant, Ashken Grigoryan, from her village of Machkalashen she can go to the capital Stepanakert only twice a week, but “it is not said that she will be able to get on the bus, and then she will have to travel two-three hours on a single leg”. Azerbaijan continues to officially maintain that the “corridor” is open, as also imposed by the Hague court, even if in fact only a few Red Cross ambulances are able to pass, taking the most seriously ill to Armenia.

The effects of the blockade. According to data from the Artsakh administration, around 11,000 people have lost their jobs and livelihoods as a result of the blockade, and the economy of Stepanakert has suffered more than $400 million in damage, to the brink. of the collapse.

* Vladimir Rozanskij – Asianews