Azerbaijan on Wednesday accused Armenia of “provocation” toward its territorial integrity after a convoy of 19 trucks carrying 400 tons of humanitarian assistance to Artsakh reached the Hakari bridge having passed the Armenian checkpoint.
The convoy, which is also being followed by Markus Ritter, the head of the European Union monitoring mission in Armenia, will stay at the Armenian side of the bridge, on which Azerbaijan has built an illegal checkpoint and from where the entire Lachin Corridor has been blockaded.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry called the dispatch conveys an “encroachment,” hinting that Yerevan was sending the trucks under the guise of humanitarian assistance.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a social media post on Wednesday that the cargo is only humanitarian in nature.
“This provocation once again shows that Armenia’s statements about the ‘tense humanitarian situation in the region’ are nothing more than that country’s intention to continue manipulations and illegal actions,” the Azerbaijani foreign ministry said..
As part of “Food for Life” initiative, 400 tons of humanitarian assistance reached the Armenian checkpoint in Kornidzor, in the Syunik Province, from where Russian peacekeeping forces were to transport the aid to Artsakh on Wednesday.
“We have contacted representatives of the Russian peacekeeping forces to deliver cargo to [Artsakh] Nagorno-Karabakh with their mediation, we are waiting for an answer. This process requires understanding and patience. As soon as there is news, we will let you know,” Vardan Sargsyan, a representative of the working group on managing the humanitarian crisis in Artsakh, said in an interview with 1TV, News.am reported.
The convoy of 19 trucks carrying food and other essential goods left Yerevan earlier on Wednesday.
Ritter, the head of the European Union’s mission in Armenia, said that he was personally in Kornidzor and if following the convoy.
“Today, Head of European Union Mission in Armenia Markus Ritter together with our EUMA monitors closely follows the ongoing movement on the road leading to the entrance of the Lachin corridor from the Armenian side to get first-hand and verified information on current developments,” said a social media post by the European mission.
“We have come here to Hakari Bridge to observe the course of events on the spot. Like you, we also do not know whether the Azerbaijani side will allow the vehicles loaded with humanitarian cargo to pass through the Lachin Corridor and enter Nagorno-Karabakh. Whatever happens, we will write about it in detail in our report,” emphasized the head of the European Union observation mission,” Ritter told Armenpress.
“Since the start of our mission, we have been patrolling along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, along the line of contact, monitoring the situation on the border. We visit conflict-affected areas and report to Brussels what is happening there, thereby supporting the peace talks and the European Union’s peacemaking efforts. The road entering the Lachine Corridor is in our area of responsibility and we are observing what will happen here today,” Ritter told reporters.
An Armenian government task force on managing the humanitarian crisis in Nagorno Karabakh approved sending urgent humanitarian aid to the population of Nagorno Karabakh on Tuesday.
