Share Tweet By Billy Hallowell Editor
July 13, 2023

A prominent member of the U.K.s House of Lords is continuing to sound the alarm about the ongoing blockage in Nagorno-Karabakh, a small, landlocked region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, warning that the Armenian Christians living there lack food, resources, and other necessities.

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Baroness Caroline Cox, a longtime member of Parliament, told CBN’s Faithwire about the region’s history and why she continues to passionately advocate for those living there.

“Armenia was the first nation of the word to become Christian … back in 301 AD,” Cox said. “And the little land of Nagorno-Karabakh is part of Ancient Armenia, and Armenians have lived there for 1,700 years, and you get some of the oldest churches and stone crosses in the world in that little holy land.”

That history is threatened, according to Cox, who has been to the region around 90 times. She said the current conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh has bred a “situation of tragedy and of conflict.”

After some of the latest skirmishes in 2020, Azerbaijan is now controlling a “significant proportion of the land” and, according to Cox, has reportedly destroyed “at least three churches.”

“We can’t prove that because we can’t go there to see,” the Crossbench Life peer, who has served in Parliament since 1983, added, expressing worry over the historical stone crosses and Christian monuments.

Watch Cox express her fears over the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh:

As CBN’s Faithwire has extensively reported, the most recent chaos in the region began Dec. 12, when individuals identifying as Azerbaijani protestors reportedly blocked the Lachin corridor, the only roadway into and out of Nagorno-Karabakh, effectively halting food, medicine, and essential transport.

“There’s a huge shortage of food and medicines inside … [and a] lot of suffering,” Cox said, noting Azerbaijan has also “cut off electricity supply a lot of the time.”

The lack of heat and resources created problems with warmth and even farming, making it more difficult to grow food and resources. Cox expressed dismay over the months-long blockade, claiming it’s being done “with complete impunity” and without enough counterpressure from the international community.

“That blockade of the road can … be the beginning of another genocide of people just being starved to death,” Cox said. “No one has challenged or opened up that blockade to the road and, as said, is causing enormous suffering.”

Cox said the international community should call Azerbaijan “to account for the suffering it has already caused” through the blockade.

She also said food and resources should be made available to Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Cox concluded the interview by explaining how she believes Christians should be praying for the Armenians trapped in the region.

“When we visit our Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering so horrifically, we always ask them, ‘What’s your priority?’” she said. “And if I was one of them, I’d say, ‘Food for water’ … but their priority request is always for prayer, and that [is humbling].”

Cox continued, “Prayer needs to be informed prayer. So it is important that our wonderful friends in the United States do study a little bit what is actually happening in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh so the prayer can be informed prayer.”

Read more about the history behind the situation here.

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