Sunday,
Armenia Calls Azerbaijani Roadblock ‘Illegal’
The Armenian Foreign Ministry building in Yerevan
Official Yerevan has denounced the installation by Azerbaijan of a checkpoint on
the road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia as “illegal” and
“unacceptable”, calling on Russia to live up to its commitments to provide the
security of the mostly Armenian-populated region.
In a statement issued on Sunday Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that
the roadblock that Azerbaijan said was set up at the border with Armenia near
the Hakari river bridge “grossly violated” the terms of the Moscow-brokered 2020
ceasefire under which Russian peacekeepers are to control a five-kilometer-wide
corridor between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.
“It is really a flagrant violation of one of the fundamental provisions of the
November 9, 2020 trilateral statement that is aimed at the consistent
implementation of Azerbaijan’s policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh
and the complete annihilation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh,” the Armenian
ministry said.
The trilateral statement signed by the leaders of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan
in 2020 put an end to a six-week Armenian-Azerbaijani war over Nagorno-Karabakh
in which nearly 7,000 soldiers were killed on both sides.
The war in which Azerbaijan regained all of the Armenian-controlled areas
outside Nagorno-Karabakh as well as chunks of territory inside the Soviet-era
autonomous oblast proper was followed by international efforts to broker a peace
deal between Yerevan and Baku.
In its statement today Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that “the
installation by Azerbaijan of a checkpoint in the Lachin corridor as well as
previous similar actions combined with continuous Armeniophobic and threatening
rhetoric are aimed at scuttling the negotiations on a document for the
normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan.”
“We call on the Russian Federation to finally fulfil its 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,” the Armenian ministry underscored.
In substantiating its decision to set up the checkpoint, Azerbaijan’s State
Border Service cited the need to curb further “military supplies” from Armenia
to Nagorno-Karabakh, a claim repeatedly denied in both Yerevan and Stepanakert.
A bridge over the Hakari river, .
On April 22, Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defense claimed that Russian peacekeepers
controlling the area again helped Armenians transport “military cargoes” from
Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh via the Lachin road.
It also reported an incident in which three Azerbaijani soldiers were injured
when their vehicle was blown up on a mine allegedly supplied from Armenia.
Azerbaijan’s State Border Service also said that the opening of its checkpoint
followed a similar unilateral step by Armenia made on April 22. Authorities in
Yerevan have not yet commented on this.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued today Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
pledged that “necessary conditions” will be created for “a transparent and
orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan” through the checkpoint in both directions.
It stressed that the control mechanism will be carried out in cooperation with
the Russian peacekeeping force.
According to a local leader in Armenia’s southern Syunik region that borders on
the Lachin corridor, as of Sunday afternoon negotiations were underway between
Russian peacekeepers and Azerbaijan’s representatives regarding the checkpoint.
Meanwhile, a United States Department of State representative said on April 23
that Washington is “deeply concerned that Azerbaijan’s establishment of a
checkpoint on the Lachin corridor undermines efforts to establish confidence in
the peace process.”
“We reiterate that there should be free and open movement of people and commerce
on the Lachin corridor and call on the parties to resume peace talks and refrain
from provocations and hostile actions along the border,” said Vedant Patel,
principal deputy spokesperson, in a press statement.
The only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia has effectively been
blockaded by Azerbaijan since December when a group of Azerbaijanis calling
themselves environmental activists blocked traffic at a junction near the
Azerbaijani-controlled Karabakh city of Shushi (Susa).
Azerbaijan has denied blockading the mostly Armenian-populated region, citing
the fact that vehicles of Russian peacekeepers as well as representatives of the
International Committee of the Red Cross have not been prevented from carrying
humanitarian supplies to the region and transporting people needing medical care
to Armenia.
Speaking in parliament earlier this week, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian stressed that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
and is ready to sign a relevant peace treaty with Baku.
“The peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will become realistic if the
two countries recognize clearly, without ambiguities and pitfalls, each other’s
territorial integrity and undertake not to ever submit territorial claims to
each other,” Pashinian said on April 18.
“I now want to reaffirm that Armenia fully recognizes the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan, and we expect Azerbaijan to do the same by recognizing the entire
territory of the Armenian [Soviet Socialist Republic] as the [modern-day]
Republic of Armenia,” he added.
Pashinian’s remarks drew criticism from Armenian opposition figures as well as
political leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh, who claimed that they were “consistent
with the position of official Baku.”
Azerbaijan Sets Up Checkpoint On Karabakh Road
A bridge over the Hakari river, .
In a move condemned by Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijani authorities on
Sunday set up a checkpoint on the only road connecting the mostly
Armenian-populated region with Armenia.
In doing so, Azerbaijan’s State Border Service cited “continuing military
supplies from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh,” a claim repeatedly denied in both
Yerevan and Stepanakert.
The Armenian side has, for its part, accused Azerbaijan of seeking a pretext for
isolating Karabakh Armenians.
De facto ethnic Armenian authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have also accused Baku
of violating the terms of the Moscow-brokered 2020 ceasefire agreement under
which the road passing through a five-kilometer-wide area known as the Lachin
corridor should be under the control of Russian peacekeepers.
In a statement disseminated by the region’s Information Center on Sunday the
ethnic Armenian authorities of the region stressed that Nagorno-Karabakh
considers the closure of the bridge over the Hakari river by Azerbaijan to be “a
criminal step aimed at strengthening the blockade of Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh –
ed.] and ethnic cleansing.”
According to the Information Center, Nagorno-Karabakh’s leader has called an
emergency meeting of the region’s Security Council to discuss “the latest
developments and relevant actions of the authorities.”
Baku’s decision to set up a border checkpoint at the beginning of the road from
Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh comes a day after a report by Azerbaijan’s Ministry
of Defense about an incident in which three Azerbaijani servicemen were
reportedly injured when their vehicle was blown up on a mine allegedly supplied
from Armenia. In another statement the ministry claimed that Russian
peacekeepers controlling the area again helped Armenians transport “military
cargoes” from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh via the Lachin road. The Armenian side
has denied both accusations.
The only road connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia has effectively been
blockaded by Azerbaijan since December when a group of Azerbaijanis calling
themselves environmental activists blocked traffic at a junction near the
Azerbaijani-controlled Karabakh city of Shushi (Susa).
Azerbaijan has denied blockading the mostly Armenian-populated region, citing
the fact that vehicles of Russian peacekeepers as well as representatives of the
International Committee of the Red Cross have not been prevented from carrying
humanitarian supplies to the region and transporting people needing medical care
to Armenia.
In setting up the border checkpoint at the Lachin road Azerbaijan’s State Border
Service also said that it followed a similar unilateral step by Armenia made on
April 22.
Authorities in Yerevan have not yet commented on the development.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued today Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
pledged that “necessary conditions will be created for the transparent and
orderly passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan from this checkpoint to Armenia and Azerbaijan in both directions.”
It stressed that the control mechanism will be carried out in cooperation with
the Russian peacekeeping force.
Speaking in parliament earlier this week, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian stressed that Armenia recognizes Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity
and is ready to sign a relevant peace treaty with Baku.
“The peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will become realistic if the
two countries recognize clearly, without ambiguities and pitfalls, each other’s
territorial integrity and undertake not to ever submit territorial claims to
each other,” Pashinian said on April 18.
“I now want to reaffirm that Armenia fully recognizes the territorial integrity
of Azerbaijan, and we expect Azerbaijan to do the same by recognizing the entire
territory of the Armenian [Soviet Socialist Republic] as the [modern-day]
Republic of Armenia,” he added.
Armenian opposition leaders portrayed the statement as further proof of their
claims that Pashinian is helping Baku regain full control over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Political leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh also denounced the Armenian prime
minister’s remarks, saying that they are “consistent with the position of
official Baku.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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