According to her words, “the office in Barda, along with the one in Baku, has existed for many years.” “The employees who will deal with humanitarian issues will be attached to the Barda office. For example, addressing the needs of the Armenians remaining in Karabakh,” said Amatuni.
Ilaha Huseynova, the Head of Public Relations for the ICRC’s Baku office, also stated that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is resuming its activities in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. According to her, the ICRC will carry out its work from the office in Barda.
It’s important to note that the aforementioned office’s activities in Khankendi have long been a cause for protests and concern by official Baku. The organization opened it during the First Karabakh War, but since then, the office was subordinate to the Yerevan representation, not the Baku office of the ICRC. The Azerbaijani side demanded that the ICRC eliminate such an approach, which contradicts the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
This issue became especially acute last year before Azerbaijan’s anti-terrorist operations in Karabakh. In March 2023, official Baku sent a note to the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross demanding the Khankendi office be subordinated to the Baku representation and provided a specific action schedule.
The organization responded two months later, in May, stating that since the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia is not yet concluded, the ICRC must maintain contact “with those who directly control” the areas where it operates.
It was also emphasized that in the “new reality,” which may emerge after 2025 (i.e., after the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Karabakh), the issue raised by the Azerbaijani side could be revisited.
In other words, the ICRC did not meet Azerbaijan’s legitimate demands and continued working with the separatist regime in Khankendi.
In one of his speeches, President Ilham Aliyev also addressed this issue. “Unfortunately, to this day, their office in Karabakh is subordinate to the representation in Yerevan, not in Baku. This is unacceptable. Because the whole world recognizes Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. Even the Prime Minister of Armenia has repeatedly said: ‘Karabakh is Azerbaijan.’ But why does the Red Cross Committee office in Khankendi report to the representation in Yerevan, not in Baku? This is our legitimate demand,” Ilham Aliyev warned last August.
It could be expected that after Azerbaijan restored full sovereignty over Karabakh last September, including control over Khankendi, the issue would finally be resolved. However, this did not happen: the organization’s office in Khankendi continued its operations under the pretext of providing humanitarian aid to the few remaining Armenians there. Although the humanitarian needs of the latter were fully met by the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society and other structures.
In Baku, there were suspicions that the ICRC was acting on instructions received from France and some other Western countries and expected the return of Armenians to Karabakh.
Apparently, the ICRC has finally met the demands of the Azerbaijani side, understanding that the “Karabakh question” is closed forever.
