Blinken Discussed Karabakh, Human Rights With Aliyev /UPDATED/

Blinken Discussed Karabakh, Human Rights With Aliyev

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke today with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev to urge an immediate reopening of the Lachin corridor to commercial traffic, State Department's Spokesperson Ned Price said in a readout.

Blinken "underscored that the risk of a humanitarian crisis in the Lachin corridor undermined prospects for peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan," the Department said, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"The Secretary encouraged President Aliyev to redouble efforts in bilateral peace discussions with Armenia," Price noted.

Blinken also raised human rights concerns in Azerbaijan, Price added.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.

In turn, according to the Azerbaijani side,President Ilham Aliyev said there was no blockade of the Lachin-Khankendi road, adding some 980 vehicles have passed through this road since December 12, 2022, of which over 850 ones belonged to the Russian peacekeepers and over 120 to the International Committee of the Red Cross. At the same time, the President of Azerbaijan underlined about 90 sick persons and those in need of medical assistance had been taken to Armenia by the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to President Ilham Aliyev, these facts show that Azerbaijan did not close the Lachin-Khankendi road.

The Head of State underlined that illegal operations on the mining sites must be stopped in the Azerbaijani territories where the Russian peacekeepers had been temporarily deployed with the permanent conditions to be created for the monitoring by Azerbaijan. The President of Azerbaijan drew Antony Blinken’s attention to Armenia’s using the Lachin road for the illegal shipment of mines made in 2021.

President Ilham Aliyev reiterated Azerbaijan’s commitment to the peace process and normalization of the relations with Armenia. The Head of State underlined that the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal must include only normalization of bilateral relations based on the international law and principles, and five principles proposed by Azerbaijan.

President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan would ensure rights and security of the Armenian civilians living in the Azerbaijan’s Karabakh economic zone on the basis of the constitution and laws of the Republic of Azerbaijan.-0-