The convoy of 22 trucks carrying Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) humanitarian goods is waiting at the border area of Armenia’s Kornidzor village for 16 days now.
Vardan Sargsyan, a representative of the crisis management working group for Nagorno-Karabakh set up by the Armenian government, summed up the records of these days in an interview with Lurer (News) program of the Public TV Company of Armenia. He noted that during these days, representatives of the diplomatic corps accredited in Armenia, international organizations, and in particular, the UN Yerevan office and UN agencies have visited the border area of Kornidzor, and that they have witnessed that the Lachin corridor, which is blocked by Azerbaijan for nearly eight months now, is closed, and humanitarian cargo cannot be delivered to the people of Artsakh as a result.
Sargsyan noted that this part of Kornidzor was visited also by many international prestigious media representatives who, being at a visible distance from the illegally installed Azerbaijani checkpoint, saw with their own eyes and become convinced that there is no movement at the checkpoint, and it does not serve anyone.
“Despite the increase in general attention and interest from the international community, statements and concerns about the deepening crisis, media publications, we are still strangely witnessing the statements of the Azerbaijani side that the Lachin corridor is open; but it has nothing to do with reality,” Sargsyan said.
According to him, there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that this initiative of the Armenian government is solely humanitarian, and Azerbaijan’s baseless speculations and attempts to politicize the matter cannot cast a shadow on this process.
“I hope that this solely humanitarian initiative will be possible to implement, and the needs of the 120,000 people of Nagorno-Karabakh facing mot complex challenges will be met through the cargo,” he said.
To the remark that the risk of cargo spoilage is increasing day by day and when asked what steps are being taken in this regard, Vardan Sargsyan responded: “The trucks, at least those with cargoes with problems of usability and maintaining a certain temperature, are equipped with appropriate freezing, cooling systems. In this case, taking into account that the trucks have been stationary for 16 days, certain complications arise in terms of technically keeping them under control. In any case, until this moment, the cooling systems are regularly turned on, and this problem does not exist.”
Source : News. am