2020–2022 map of the Lachin corridor following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement. The new route currently in use is located to the south of the Goris-Stepanakert highway.Azerbaijani Checkpoint to the Lachin Corridor at the Hakari Bridge, viewed from Kornidzor, Republic of Armenia. The checkpoint was installed on April 23, 2023 in violation of the Tripartite Ceasefire Agreement that ended the 2020 war.
Being the only road between these two territories, it is considered a humanitarian corridor or "lifeline" to the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.[2][3][4][5] The corridor is in the Lachin District of Azerbaijan, but is ostensibly under the control of a Russian peacekeeping force as provided for in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh armistice agreement. The territory of the corridor included the villages of Zabukh, Sus and the city of Lachin itself until 2022. On 26 August 2022, these settlements were transferred to Azerbaijani control. Four days later, a new route to the south was opened for use that bypasses the settlements of Zabukh, Sus and Lachin and instead passes by the villages of Mets Shen/Boyuk Galadarasi and Hin Shen/Kichik Galadarasi (formerly Kirov).[6] On April 23, 2023, Azerbaijani officials set up a checkpoint in the corridor, claiming it was meant to prevent "illegal" transport of military supplies and natural resources;[7][8] however, the republics of Armenia and Artsakh have denied these allegations and the ceasefire agreement does not explicitly limit the use of the Lachin corridor to humanitarian needs.[9] Azerbaijan's ongoing blockade of the Lachin corridor, including its checkpoint, has been criticized by numerous countries, international organizations, and human rights groups[10][11][12][13][14][15] many of which consider it a violation of the ceasefire agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, which guarantees the security of movement along the Lachin corridor in both directions.
The complete isolation of Artsakh from the outside world lasted for 3 years (August 1989 to May 1992) until the Artsakh Defence Army opened a humanitarian corridor known as the Lachin corridor to Armenia.[20][21][22][2]
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".[23]
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.
Following the ceasefire, around 200 Armenians remained in the Lachin corridor, with 30 of them in Sus, 100 to 120 in Lachin, and over 40 in Zabukh (Aghavno).[24] According to the president of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, a new corridor will be built in the region, as the Lachin corridor passes through the city of Lachin. When this new corridor is completed, the city will revert to Azerbaijani administration.[25]
On August 26, control of the Lachin District was transferred to Azerbaijan. Artsakh authorities gave the residents of the villages along the corridor 20 days notice to evacuate.[26][27] While Aliyev promised that long-term Armenian Lachin residents would be treated as citizens, he branded the remaining residents as illegal settlers and demanded that they be removed[28][29] As part of the ceasefire agreement, a new corridor will be built which will also be controlled by Russian peacekeeping forces.[27] Several analysts consider it unlikely that Azerbaijan will allow electricity, gas, and Internet infrastructure to be built along the new highway.[30][31]
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 control is now up to the Russians.[32] Azerbaijan said that it installed video surveillance cameras along the Lachin corridor.[33] Being the only road that connects Nagorno-Karabakh to the Republic of Armenia, it has often been described as a "lifeline" to and for residents of Nagorno-Karabakh.[34][35][2]
Situation after the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020)
In August 2022, Azerbaijan built its part of the road around Lachin, while Armenia had not. On 2 August, the local Armenian authorities reported that the Azerbaijani side had conveyed to them a demand to organize communication with Armenia along a different route, bypassing the existing one.[36] Following the renewed clashes around Lachin, Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia Armen Grigoryan stated that Azerbaijan's demand for the Lachin corridor was unlawful, since the Armenian side has not yet agreed to any plan for the construction of a new road. Azerbaijan accused Armenia of delaying the construction of its part of the road, while the part for which Azerbaijan was responsible had already been built. On 4 August, the Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure of Armenia, Gnel Sanosyan, stated that the construction of an alternative road to Lachin was actively underway and would be completed the spring of 2023.[37] On 5 August, local Armenian authorities told the residents of Lachin, as well as Zabukh and Sus, to leave their homes by 25 August, after which the towns would be handed over to Azerbaijan.[38][39] Some of the Armenian inhabitants burned their houses down.[40] As of 26 August, Azerbaijan regained control of villages in the Lachin corridor, including Lachin, Sus, and Zabukh.[41] Soon after, the alternate route to the south that passes by the villages of Mets Shen/Boyuk Galadarasi and Hin Shen/Kichik Galadarasi (formerly Kirov) opened for use .[6][42]
On 12 December 2022, citizens of Azerbaijan claiming to be "eco-activists" launched a blockade of the Lachin corridor,[43][44] leaving 1,100 people, including 270 children, unable to return to their homes.[45][46] This was followed by Azerbaijan cutting off the gas supply from Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh (between 13 and 16 December), putting the 120,000 Armenian residents of Nagorno-Karabakh at risk of humanitarian crisis.[47][48] The blockade was condemned by France, Greece, the Netherlands, Russia, Canada, and a number of other countries.[49][50][51][52][53] The issue is also on the agenda of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.[54][55]
On 26 April 2023 the Russian Defense Ministry said Aleksandr Lentsov had been appointed to replace Andrei Volkov as the head of its peacekeeping forces. Until 2020 Lentsov was deputy commander in chief of the Russian Army.[56] This came shortly after the Azeris had set up a checkpoint on the road.[57]
Detentions of Armenians
On 29 July 2023, Azerbaijani troops detained Vagif Khachatryan, an Armenian resident of Nagorno-Karabakh, while he was crossing through the Lachin corridor to Armenia for medical treatment. Khachatryan was part of a larger group travelling to Armenia with the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross.[58] Khachatryan was then taken to Baku.[59] Azerbaijani authorities allege that Khachatryan was involved in violence against Azerbaijanis in the village of Meshali during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, charging him with "genocide" and "deportation or forced movement of the population" under Azerbaijan's Criminal Code.[60]
On 28 August 2023, three young Armenian men from Nagorno-Karabakh, Alen Sargsyan, Vahe Hovsepyan and Levon Grigoryan, were detained by Azerbaijani security forces while passing through the Lachin corridor to Armenia. The men were being escorted by Russian peacekeepers.[61] Azerbaijani authorities and media said that the men were being charged with "disrespecting the Azerbaijani flag" in a 2021 social media video. The three men were later said to have had their criminal charges dropped "considering the age of the accused individuals, their sincere remorse, and compliance with the requirements of procedural legislation." According to the APA news agency, the three will spend 10 days in administrative detention before being expelled from Azerbaijan.[62][63]
^"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.
^Potier, Tim (2001). Conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia: a legal appraisal. The Hague: Kluwer law international. p. 194. ISBN978-90-411-1477-8.
^Kambeck, Michael; Ghazaryan, Sargis, eds. (2013). Europe's Next Avoidable War. p. 25. doi:10.1057/9781137030009. ISBN978-1-349-33644-9. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 18 June 2023. 1989 August: Azerbaijan imposes a railway blockade on Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, abrogating fundamental principles of Soviet solidarity.
^"CASE OF CHIRAGOV AND OTHERS v. ARMENIA". HUDOC - European Court of Human Rights. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023. The capture of these two towns [Lachin and Shusha/Shushi] had been deemed necessary by the "NKR" forces in order to stop Azerbaijani war crimes and open up a humanitarian corridor to Armenia.
^Green, Anna (20 March 2017). "Spotlight Karabakh". EVN Report. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023. On May 18, [1992] the Karabakh Army entered Lachin (Kashatagh), thus ending the three-year blockade.
