Lemkin Institute: Artsakh - Crisis (I)

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, Azerbaijan has once again disrupted gas supply to Artsakh, leaving tens of thousands of Armenians without heat and completely dependent on the very limited domestic resources amid harsh and freezing winter conditions.

Since the beginning of the blockade of the Lachin Corridor on December 12th, 2022, the pipeline supplying gas to the Republic of Artsakh, which is coming from Armenia through Azerbaijani-controlled land, has been blocked by Azerbaijan for the second time.

This new development is part of an already tense context as Baku also repeatedly cuts off electricity supplies to Artsakh causing numerous blackouts. These outrageous acts have led to an unprecedented energy crisis for the Armenian-populated territory.

The present crisis in Artsakh is a continuation of the genocide committed against Armenians by the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. The Lemkin Institute believes that Armenians are one of the most threatened identities in the world today and face a high risk of another genocide if preventative work is not quickly executed on a regional and global scale.