BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 1. Mentioning the rights and security of the Armenian residents of Azerbaijan's Karabakh region and the "blockage" rather than the issue of the rights and return of Azerbaijanis deported from Armenia is unfair and unacceptable, the Western Azerbaijan Community told Trend.
The community made the remark, commenting on US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller's statement of August 31, 2023.
"The above, along with the fact that the Western Azerbaijan Community hasn't received a response to its letter addressed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, suggest that Washington approaches issues with double standards," the community emphasized.
The Western Azerbaijan Community has also called on the US not to use outdated narratives such as "all outstanding issues".
Miller expressed in the statement "deep concern" about allegedly "deteriorating humanitarian conditions" in Azerbaijan's Karabakh region (where Armenian residents live) "resulting from the continued blockage of food, medicine, and other goods essential to a dignified existence", and called to "immediately re-open" the Lachin-Khankendi road to humanitarian, commercial, and passenger traffic.
Besides, Miller called officials from Baku and representatives from Khankendi "without delay to agree on the means of transporting critical provisions to the men, women, and children of Karabakh—including additional supply routes—and resume discussions on all outstanding issues".
In order to prevent the transportation of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other military equipment from Armenia for illegal Armenian armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan (which weren't withdrawn contrary to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020 signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian leaders following the second Karabakh war), and as an adequate response to the unilateral establishment of a border checkpoint by Armenia on the border with Azerbaijan on April 22 at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road contrary to the trilateral statement of November 10, 2020, on April 23 at 12:00 (GMT+4), the units of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan set up a border checkpoint in its sovereign territories, on the border with Armenia, at the beginning of the Lachin-Khankendi road.