THE Azerbaijani State Border Service said yesterday it established a border checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, the only land route linking Armenia and the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.

“On April 23 at 12.00 (08:00 GMT), the units of the State Border Service of the Republic of Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint on the sovereign territory of our country, on the border with Armenia, at the entrance to the Lachin–Khankendi (Berdzor–Stepanakert) road,” the border service said, Sputnik reported.

The move seeks to “prevent the transportation of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other military equipment from Armenia to the illegal Armenian armed groups on the territory of Azerbaijan”, the body said.

The move is also billed as a response to “Armenia’s unilateral establishment of a checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road on April 22” in alleged breach of the November 2020 tripartite ceasefire agreement with Russia.

The command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent and the Russian-Turkish joint monitoring centre have been informed about the situation, the border service said.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry cited Armenia’s alleged use of the road for illegal purposes and security threats as reasons for setting up the checkpoint.

“Azerbaijan, due to misuse of the Lachin-Khankandi road by Armenia (and) resulting security threats, has established a border checkpoint on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border. Proper conditions will be ensured for passage of Armenian residents of Karabakh region in both directions!” Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said on Twitter.

Armenia responded by slamming Azerbaijan’s unilateral checkpoint and stressing that it was against both the 2020 trilateral declaration and the February 22 decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) mandating Baku to ensure unhindered movement through the Lachin corridor.

“We call on the Russian Federation to finally fulfil the obligation under provision 6 of the trilateral statement by eliminating the illegal blockade of the Lachin corridor and ensuring the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from the entire security zone of the corridor, and we call on the member states of the UN, having a mandate for the preservation of international security, to clearly record Azerbaijan’s actions undermining the regional security and take effective steps towards the unconditional implementation of the decision of the ICJ, the highest international legal body,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry said.

The decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh flared up again in September 2020, marking the worst escalation since the 1990s. Hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered trilateral declaration of the ceasefire signed in November 2020. The two former Soviet countries agreed to the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in the region.

Since December 12, 2022, the Lachin corridor has been blocked by a group of Azerbaijanis described by Baku as environmental activists. – Bernama, April 24, 2023.