Lachin corridor

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Map of the Lachin corridor following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement
Checkpoint in the Lachin corridor in 2017

The Lachin corridor (Armenian: Լաչինի միջանցք, romanized: Lachini mijantsk; Azerbaijani: Laçın dəhlizi or Laçın koridoru; Russian: Лачи́нский коридо́р, romanized: Lachinskiy koridor) is a mountain road that links Armenia and the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.[1] The corridor is de jure in the Lachin District of Azerbaijan, but is under the control of a Russian peacekeeping force as provided for in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh armistice agreement with the armistice agreement providing:

The Republic of Armenia shall return [...] the Lachin District by 1 December [2020]. The Lachin corridor (5 km (3.1 mi) wide), which will provide access from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia and bypass the town of Shusha, shall remain under the control of the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation. Subject to agreement by the Parties, a construction plan will be determined in the next three years for a new route of movement along the Lachin corridor, providing a link between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia with the subsequent redeployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to guard this route. The Republic of Azerbaijan shall guarantee the safety of traffic of citizens, vehicles, and goods along the Lachin corridor in both directions.

History[]

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War from 1988 to 1994, the corridor came under the control of the Artsakh Defence Army. For administration purposes, it was part of the Republic of Artsakh's Kashatagh Province. In a statement to the United Nations on 18 September 2005, the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, said "It is the issue of communication of the Armenians living in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan with Armenia and that of the Azerbaijanis living in the Nakhchivan region of Azerbaijan with the rest of the country. We suggest the using of the so-called Lachin corridor – which should be called "Road of Peace" – by both sides in both directions provided that security of this road will be ensured by the multinational peacekeeping forces at the initial stage".[2]

In the aftermath of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, which ended with a Russian-brokered armistice, the Lachin corridor became the sole connection between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Current situation[]

In December 2020, the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, claimed that within three years a new corridor would be built in the region to bypass the city of Lachin.[3]

Following the ceasefire, around 200 Armenians remained in the Lachin corridor, with 30 of them in Sus, 100–120 in Lachin and over 40 in Zabukh (Aghavno).[4]

In March 2021, a journalist for BBC visited the road, reporting that "since the war, Armenians have had no control over who and what uses this road", adding that the control is now up to the Russians.[5]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Azerbaijan enters Nagorno-Karabakh district after peace deal". aljazeera.com. Al Jazeera. 20 November 2020. Archived from the original on 23 December 2020. The Russian peacekeeping force of some 2,000 troops has deployed to the administrative centre of the region, Stepanakert, and set up checkpoints and observation posts along the strategic Lachin corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia.
  2. ^ "UN General Assembly 2005" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2020-11-29. Retrieved 2017-06-28.
  3. ^ "İlham Əliyev: "Yeni dəhliz hazır olandan sonra Laçın şəhəri bizə qaytarılacaq"". BBC Azerbaijani Service (in Azerbaijani). 1 December 2020. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  4. ^ Sara Petrosyan (22 February 2021). "Փոքրաթիվ հայեր դեռևս բնակվում են Քաշաթաղում, բայց դա ռուսների քմահաճույքով է պայմանավորված". hetq.am. Hetq. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Who Won the Karabakh War?". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.

External links[]

Coordinates: 39°36′31″N 46°32′41″E / 39.60861°N 46.54472°E / 39.60861; 46.54472


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