On January 18, the 38th day of the blockade of Artsakh, Azerbaijan again disrupted the operation of the Armenia-Artsakh gas pipeline running through Azerbaijani-controlled territory, as a result of which the 120-thousand population of the Republic were left without heating and hot water.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan's disruptions of natural gas supply to Artsakh have become systematic. In particular, supply of natural gas was interrupted in March 2022 (for more than 20 days), on 13 December, the second day of the blockade (for 3 days), as well as on 17 January 2023. In addition, the Azerbaijani side continues to deliberately obstruct the repair of the only Goris-Stepanakert high-voltage power line, which was damaged on 9 January in an area under Azerbaijani control.

The ongoing blockade of Artsakh organized by the Azerbaijani authorities, as well as creation of unbearable living conditions for the people of Artsakh and aggravation of the humanitarian crisis are aimed at one goal – to destroy the people of Artsakh as such by cleansing Artsakh of Armenians. Thus, Azerbaijan is trying to finally close the issue of individual and collective rights of the people of Artsakh.

In this context, both individual and collective action by the international community should be aimed at early warning. We therefore call on the community of States to take all necessary measures to immediately stop Azerbaijan's genocidal actions against the people of Artsakh, in line with their universal obligation to prevent the crime of genocide.