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MP Tim Loughton has criticized the UK government for the“distinct lack of a robust response” to Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing programme in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh).

In an interview to The Telegraph, Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, and chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Armenia, said that Azerbaijan is "Azerbaijan is absolutely taking advantage of the fact that Russia has its hands full elsewhere."

“I have no doubt that this is part of Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing programme, and whether it constitutes genocide at this stage – I mean it’s certainly one step away from it," he says.

Despite this, the UK has been reluctant to condemn Azerbaijan. On August 1, MPs from the APPG for Armenia wrote to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, urging him to “break the British Government’s silence on the continuing atrocities”. No reply has yet to be received.

Loughton criticised the “distinct lack of a robust response” from the UK, highlighting that other countries, like France and the US, have publicly condemned Azerbaijan over the blockade.

“[The UK] need to make it clear that, one, this is unacceptable, and two, if they don’t do something about it then there will be consequences – that could start with sanctions against Azerbaijan,” he adds.

Economics could be fuelling Britain’s silence. The UK is the largest foreign investor in Azerbaijan, with British Petroleum (BP) having invested around $84 billion in the country over the last 30 years. “I think those [commercial] interests tend to trump other potentially ethical and moral issues in UK Foreign Policy vis à vis Azerbaijan,” says Laurence Broers, the Caucasus programme director at peacebuilding organisation Conciliation Resources.

The full story by The Telegraph titled ‘It is like a concentration camp’: The forgotten crisis on Europe’s doorstep is available here.