Congressmen Adam B. Schiff, Frank Pallone Jr., Gus M. Bilirakis, Jackie Speier and David G. Valadao, co-chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, condemned the blocking by Azerbaijanis of the only road connecting Artsakh with Armenia.

According to them, it is alarming that the people of Azerbaijan are allowed to protest freely only when it threatens the lives of Armenians.  The blockade of the Lachin corridor appears to be coordinated and aimed at blocking the only remaining route for most of the food, medicine and transport to Artsakh, as well as other essential goods, not to mention further restricting the freedom of movement of Artsakh residents. Additional reports claim that Azerbaijan has also cut off one of the main sources of natural gas supplies to civilians in the territory, potentially leaving tens of thousands without heating as temperatures plummeted earlier this March.

The blockage, or even the threat of Azerbaijan blocking these vital lifelines, once again turns critical infrastructure into a weapon and provokes a humanitarian crisis for Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh.

It is based on a well-documented pattern of abuse against the Armenian people, motivated by the Aliyev regime's bombastic rhetoric aimed at dehumanizing them.

The called on the United States and European partners to use all the diplomatic tools at their disposal to stop this clearly fabricated crisis created by Azerbaijan, to bring Aliyev back to the negotiating table through the OSCE Minsk Group and other multilateral peace processes, and to ensure that the people of Artsakh are included in those discussions.