'No More Delay': U.S. Calls For Opening Of Corridors, Allowing Aid Into Karabakh

Washington D.C./15.09.23/Turan:  The top State Department official in charge of Caucasus policy on Thursday expressed a sense of urgency over the need for opening corridors and allowing supplies into Nagorno-Karabakh, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

Yuni Kim, acting assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the current state of the crisis, saying that while Washington 'welcomed' the news that one shipment carrying approximately 20 tons of humanitarian supplies passed through the Agdam route on September 12, "that is not enough."

"Additional humanitarian supplies from the International Committee of the Red Cross have been positioned for weeks just outside the Lachin and Agdam checkpoints. Senior Advisor Bono is once again in the region.... to press for these supplies to be allowed into Nagorno-Karabakh immediately and simultaneously," Kim said.

She went on to sdd, "President [Ilham] Aliyev, as well as representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh, have publicly stated that they've agreed to this arrangement. There should be no more delay in implementing this agreement. No more delay."

Matthew Miller, State Department's spokesperson, told TURAN's Washington correspondent during Thursday's press briefing that Bono continues to engage both on the short-term priority, which is to re-open the Lachin corridor, and to reach a peaceful resolution to the overall matter, in the long term. 

"I say long-term, but we really want it to happen as soon as possible," Miller added.

The spokesperson went on to add, "Secretary Blinken has engaged with the leaders of both Armenia and Azerbaijan to make it clear that we want the Lachin Corridor to be opened immediately to address the really dire humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh."

Back on the Capitol Hill, Senators made it clear that right now, the burden of proof is not about convicting Azerbaijani leadership of a crime, "it is about preventing this crime," as chairman Menendes put it.

They also challenged the top State Department official on the Biden administration’s "lack of" response to the crisis.

Committee Chair Bob Menendez and other key Senators such as Ben Cardin, Chris Van Hollen and others reiterated their opposition to 907 waivers Azerbaijan has received since 2001.

Kim in response confirmed that the State Department has not yet submitted a new waiver request this year, which has expired since June, in light of the current situation. "... Because we are reviewing the situation very carefully."

She went on to add, "We have an opportunity and an imperative to develop a strategic relationship with Armenia as well as Azerbaijan. In that context, when we look at requesting a waiver for 907, we want to make sure that we're doing two things. First of all, that none of the assistance that we provide could ever be used for offensive action against Armenia, and two, that it is in the U.S. national security interest to do that."

In the past, when the administrations have requested 907 waivers, they've used that assistance to help the Armenians beef up their border security, especially with Iran, and that has rendered concrete results in terms of stopping narcotrafficking, which is used to finance the IRGC, Kim said.

According to her, the Biden Administration continues to believe that peace in the South Caucasus has the potential to "transform the region and advance U.S. interests."

"We now have a strategic opportunity to combat malign influence in the region from actors like Russia, China, and Iran by achieving a durable peace that will expand our bilateral economic and security cooperation and provide greater energy security for European partners and allies," she added.

Secretary Blinken has hosted three rounds of peace negotiations with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan since last November, and his leadership has yielded results. "The sides have made progress on a peace agreement that could stabilize the region," she said.

During the 1.5 hour hearing, Senators also managed to question Kim on the lasting value of the U.S.-Azerbaijani relationship, including human rights.

"President Biden and Secretary Blinken have made very clear that human rights and our values are at the center of our foreign policy, and we take every opportunity to drive that home with all of our partners, every country that we deal with, including with Azerbaijan," she said.

Alex Raufoglu