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On April 23, the Border Guard Service of Azerbaijan announced that it had placed a checkpoint on the Yerevan-Stepanakert road blocking the road to Armenia near the Hakar Bridge.
By setting up the checkpoint, Baku completes the blockade of Artsakh, while at the same time completely cutting off the four villages of Shushi region: Mets Shen, Hin Shen, Lisagor and Yegtsahogh from the world.
Before this, Azerbaijan regularly stated its desire to set up a checkpoint, but neither Armenia nor Russia gave consent.
Contradicting statements by Baku and Moscow
According to the statement of the Border Guard Service of Azerbaijan, the Russian side was “informed” about the installation of the checkpoint.
Later, the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan declared that the checkpoint should be “installed in cooperation with the Russian peacekeeping forces.”
Official Moscow responded to the installation of the checkpoint through the Foreign Ministry, Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov and the Ministry of Defense.
The Russian Foreign Ministry was as restrained as possible in its wording calling on the parties to return to existing agreements and “expressing concern” over the tension in the situation and violations of the ceasefire regime.
According to President Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the situation created after the installation of the checkpoint is “not easy” and that Yerevan and Baku shall “realize” that the provisions of the tripartite statement have no alternative.
In the evening of April 24, the Ministry of Defense of Russia addressed the checkpoint in its daily newsletter in the peacekeeping contingent stationed in Nagorno Karabakh. Unlike the Foreign Ministry and Peskov, the Russian Ministry of Defense refuted Azerbaijan’s statements that the checkpoint was coordinated with the peacekeeping forces, calling it “unilateral” and “non-consensual.” According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian side is negotiating with Azerbaijan on the matter.
What do Yerevan and Stepanakert say?
The authorities of Armenia and Artsakh condemned the installation of the checkpoint in a series of statements calling it a violation of the tripartite statement of November 9.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry called on Russia to “eventually fulfill their commitment under point 6 of the tripartite statement by eliminating the illegal blockade of the corridor and ensuring the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces from the entire security zone of the Lachin corridor.”
The authorities of Artsakh also called on Russia to open the road without any harsh criticism.
Where is the checkpoint and what was Baku’s plan?
The Azerbaijani checkpoint is located on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, at the beginning of the Lachin Corridor, near the bridge called Hakar.
After the installation of the checkpoint, photos and videos were circulated in the media, confirming the claims that the checkpoint is being built immediately next to the permanent deployment of Russian peacekeeping contingent.
Some of the videos even show contacts or alleged negotiations between the Russian and Azerbaijani military.
Official Baku has declared many times setting up a checkpoint or its wishes to do so, exposing itself to a negative attitude from Armenia and Russia.
At the end of February, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov personally stated that the issue of installing a checkpoint was not under discussion.
Before that, in December last year, the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, Andrei Volkov, stated that the Russian side agreed to the installation of the checkpoint. Later, Volkov’s statement was clarified including by the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia. Based on the information discussed at the time, Russia proposed to install “scanners” at the already functioning Russian checkpoints and to check the vehicles entering Artsakh.
In November last year, one of the “high-ranking” Azerbaijani officials gave an anonymous interview to the regional Eurasianet website, stating that “diplomatic” options have been exhausted. “What if we were to install a checkpoint at the entrance of Lachin corridor and finish the whole process? How can you breathe with no air?”
After the meeting held in Munich in February of this year, Ilham Aliyev declared that he proposed to install a checkpoint on the border of Lachin and Syunik. During the briefing to the media, the President of Azerbaijan stated that Armenia did not articulate any stance in response to the proposal, but it was “viewed as logical by the EU and the USA”.
After the installation of the checkpoint, the United States State Department stated that the installation of the checkpoint “undermines efforts to establish confidence in the peace process” and called for the restoration of free movement through the Lachine Corridor.
Ani Avetisyan
