In a statement, a Karabakh government body said that a pipeline supplying gas from Armenia and passing through Azerbaijani-controlled territory was blocked by Baku. It denounced the disruption as an act of “humanitarian and economic terrorism” against Karabakh’s population.
Ruben Vardanyan, the number two figure in Karabakh’s leadership, announced separately that all local schools and colleges using natural gas for heating purposes will be closed temporarily on Wednesday.
“I want to ask you all to be economical because we don't know how long this situation will last,” Vardanyan appealed to Karabakh Armenians in a live Facebook broadcast. “We are doing everything to get the whole world to know about this and to see the real face of Azerbaijan.”
“It’s going to be tough but we will manage and win,” said the Karabakh state minister.
The Azerbaijani government did not immediately react to the accusations that came amid a continuing standoff between Russian peacekeeping troops and a large group of Azerbaijanis blocking a section of the sole road connecting Karabakh to Armenia.
The protesters are demanding that Azerbaijani officials be allowed to inspect two gold and copper mines in Karabakh. Baku claimed last week that mining operations there are “illegal.”
Karabakh was already left without gas for nearly three weeks in March after an Azerbaijani-controlled section of the pipeline was knocked out by an apparent explosion. Armenian and Karabakh officials said at the time that the supply disruption was part of Baku’s efforts to force Karabakh’s ethnic Armenian residents to leave the disputed territory.