Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict: Yerevan appeals to UN court

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Blockade in the South Caucasus: Food and medicine have not been able to reach the population in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict region for weeks

Photo: IMAGO/Alexander Patrin / IMAGO/ITAR-TASS

In the conflict over the South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia has appealed to the International Court of Justice.

Azerbaijan is blocking the access road to the enclave and thus preventing supplies to the population, Armenian legal representatives told the UN court in The Hague.

The supply of food, medicine and gas will be blocked.

Armenia wants top UN judges to impose emergency measures on Azerbaijan and oblige the country to lift the blockade.

A verdict from the court is expected in a few weeks.

About 120,000 ethnic Armenians live in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Decades of conflict

The two former Soviet republics have been at odds over control of Nagorno-Karabakh for decades.

The conflict over the region flared up again last year, almost two years after the end of the war between the two countries over the region.

More than 6,500 people were killed in the 2020 fighting.

A ceasefire is currently in effect.

Armenia's legal representatives said that the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenian authorities had already rationed food and medicines.

The enclave will also not be allowed to use the airport for humanitarian transport.

Azerbaijan, on the other hand, accuses Armenia of transporting arms and mines by road, which violates the terms of the ceasefire.

Therefore, Azerbaijan had appealed to the UN court.

The case is to be dealt with in another procedure.

Armenia denied these allegations.

asc/AFP