LOS ANGELES (February 10, 2023) — Today, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression against Armenia and Artsakh, and its illegal blockade of the Lachin Corridor.
The resolution calls on the United States to terminate all aid to Azerbaijan, to provide immediate humanitarian aid to the people of Artsakh and to take forceful action to open the Lachin Corridor and ensure safe passage between Armenia and Artsakh. The resolution also calls for the United States to take tangible action to hold the regime in Azerbaijan accountable for its illegal blockade of Artsakh.
On December 12, 2022, Azerbaijan closed access to the Lachin Corridor, the only route connecting the democratic Republic of Artsakh to Armenia and the outside world. Russian “peacekeeper” troops who are charged with maintaining the Lachin Corridor have allowed Azerbaijan to blockade it, thereby cutting off all access to food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies. Schools have been forced to close, store shelves are empty, and hospitals cannot obtain medical supplies or perform vital procedures. Now, 120,000 ethnically Armenian men, women and children in Artsakh are facing a slow death by freezing, starvation or lack of medical care.
“Without the Lachin Corridor, Artsakh is completely surrounded by the military forces of a dictator who has consistently declared his intent to wipe Armenians off the map,” said City Council President Paul Krekorian. “The people of the world need to wake up about this. We are about to witness the next Armenian genocide occur before our very eyes if the United States government and others around the world do not act to hold Azerbaijan accountable, to demand that aid get through, and to ensure the self-determination of the people of Artsakh in their democratic homeland.”
