Armenia used Lachin road for illegal military activities - pundit

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev gave an extensive interview to Euronews TV channel, which was broadcast on the channel the day before and caused a significant reaction from the audience.

Commenting on the main theses of the president, Anastasia Lavrina, deputy chairman of the Russian community of Azerbaijan, journalist and political expert, told Сaliber.Az that work on achieving the long-awaited peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia continues, negotiations are underway in Brussels, Washington and Moscow, but most important is to achieve a result.

“But the conditions of peace in Baku and in Yerevan are seen differently.

"Today, one of the most discussed topics in the region is the situation on the Lachin road. Armenia continues to misinform the world community by talking about the alleged "blockade" of the road by Azerbaijan and the `humanitarian crisis' in Khankandi. Answering a question from a Euronnews journalist, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan accused Azerbaijan of violating the provisions of the tripartite statement, but remaining loyal to his traditions, he forgot to mention the most important details from the very document he referred to."

The Armenian prime minister said: “The Lachin corridor is under the control of Russian peacekeepers, and this is not only a road, but a 5 km wide zone, which should be beyond the control of Azerbaijan, this corridor should provide a connection between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia.” These words are indeed spelled out in the statement, but first things first.

Under the tripartite statement, the parties agreed to determine a plan for the construction of a new traffic route along the Lachin corridor within three years, with the subsequent redeployment of the Russian peacekeeping contingent to guard this route. Baku and Yerevan initially agreed that the corridor leading from Armenian territory to Khankandi would only temporarily pass through the Azerbaijani city of Lachin. Baku fulfilled its promise, the alternative route is ready for operation, but Armenia refuses to use it.

The issue of the new Aghdam-Khankandi road, which is also ready for operation, and the use of which was discussed at the latest meeting in Brussels, the Armenian prime minister decided to ignore, saying that he did not know what it was all about. Thus, Pashinyan even managed to cast doubt on the statement made by Charles Michel at the end of the trilateral meeting.

Second, according to the tripartite statement, "the Republic of Azerbaijan guarantees the safety of citizens, vehicles and goods in both directions along the Lachin corridor".

Well, in his response to the Euronews journalist, the Azerbaijani president said: “Since we established a border post on April 23, more than 2,000 residents of Karabakh have freely crossed into Armenia and back.”

What kind of blockade is this? The free movement of civilians is evidenced by many videos and journalist reports. But about the free movement of military equipment and servicemen, in that very tripartite statement there is not a word. It follows that it was Armenia that grossly violated its obligations all three years after the signing of the document, using the Lachin road for illegal military activities against Azerbaijan.

In turn, the Azerbaijani president rightly noted that following the results of the Second Karabakh War, Armenia undertook an obligation to provide access to the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan. But so far this has not happened. And this is despite the fact that the need to unblock transport communications in the region is announced in Moscow, Brussels, and Washington.

Well, on top of that, the Armenian prime minister forgot to mention point number 4, which states that the peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation is being deployed in parallel with the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

An important part of the interview was the final part, in which the Azerbaijani president addressed his citizens, ethnic Armenians living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.

“Karabakh Armenians must understand that, being part of the Azerbaijani society with security guarantees and rights, including educational, cultural, religious, municipal, they will be able to live a normal life, they will no longer be manipulated. We offer them a normal life,” said President Ilham Aliyev, the leader who always stands behind his words,” A. Lavrina stressed.