ECHR indicates interim measures to Baku over the blockade of Lachin Corridor

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Wednesday has granted Armenia’s request of indicating interim measures against Azerbaijan over its blockade of Lachin Corridor, the Public Radio of Armenia reported.

On Dec.14, Armenia has informed the European court regarding Baku’s blockade of Lachin Corridor, the only land road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia. Requesting the ECHR to indicate interim measures against Azerbaijan, Yerevan also has demanded the court to obligate Baku to unblock the corridor.

Following Armenia’s request, the ECHR had given Azerbaijan time until 16:00 CET on Dec. 19, to respond to Armenia’s call.

The court said it would make a final decision after the response.

Since Dec.12, Azerbaijanis defining themselves as environmental activists have blockaded the Lachin Corridor, claiming that Armenians in Karabakh were illegally mining the gold and copper reserves in nearby mines.

Armenia slammed the allegations as of being “fake”.

Ambassador Mher Margaryan, Armenia’s representative to the UN said the allegations were just a pretext for Baku to advance its policy of depriving Karabakh’s Armenian population from their rights.

International powers such as the United States, France, China and the United Arab Emirates immediately called on Azerbaijan to unblock the corridor.

On Tuesday, the members of the UN Security Council who conveyed by the request of Armenia also urged Baku to end the blockade.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan repeatedly said that around 120,000 people in the region became hostage of the measures taken by the Azeri government.

According to the regional reports, a critically ill patient has died as she couldn’t be transferred to a medical center in Yerevan.

Azerbaijan and Armenia embroiled in six weeks of fighting in autumn 2020, also known as the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. The conflict ended with a truce agreement brokered by Russia in November 2020 and Armenia handed back territories in Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan as part of the deal. Turkey sided with Baku in the conflict and provided military assistance to Azerbaijan.

In September, the Azerbaijan – Armenia border has seen the most violent confrontation since the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, after Azerbaijani side violated the ceasefire agreement reached between the sides in November 2020.

The Azerbaijani aggression was resulted with more than 250 casualties in total from both sides.