Artsakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement.

“On January 18, the 38th day of the siege of Artsakh, Azerbaijan once again disrupted the operation of the Armenia-Artsakh gas pipeline under its control, depriving the 120 thousand people of Artsakh of the possibility of heating and hot water.

It should be noted that the interruption of gas supply to Artsakh by Azerbaijan is of a periodic nature. The gas supply to Artsakh was also stopped in March 2022 for more than 20 days, on the second day of the blockade of Artsakh, on December 13, for 3 days, as well as on January 17. At the same time, Azerbaijan deliberately continues to obstruct the restoration of the only high-voltage line under its control, Goris-Stepanakert, which crashed on January 9.

The organized and continuous blockade of Artsakh by the Azerbaijani authorities, the creation of unbearable living conditions for the people, and the deepening of the humanitarian disaster pursue one goal: to destroy the people of Artsakh as such, depopulating Artsakh. Thus, Azerbaijan is trying to finally close the issue of the individual and collective rights of the people of Artsakh.

In this context, both individual and collective steps of the international community should be aimed at early prevention. We call on the states to take all necessary measures to immediately stop the genocidal actions of Azerbaijan against the people of Artsakh, in accordance with the universal commitment to the prevention of the crime of genocide.”