Armenians plan another provocation at Lachin border checkpoint

Armenia is planning another act of demonstrative sabotage on July 26 by organising the gathering of various vehicles at the opposite side of the "Lachin" state border checkpoint entrance.

“We urge Armenia to refrain from such actions aimed at provocation and serving to aggravate the situation. We reiterate that all responsibility for possible provocative actions will be fully and completely on the Armenian side," Caliber.Az reports with reference to the press service of Azerbaijan’s State Border Service.

Azerbaijan installed a checkpoint at the entrance of the Lachin road on the border with Armenia in April 2023, following regular shipments of arms and ammunition through the highway. Since August 2022, a total of 2,728 landmines produced in Armenia in 2021 were detected and neutralized, 1,119 of which were in the Kalbajar and Lachin districts along the border area with Armenia, and 1,609 in the territory of the Karabakh Economic Region.

The illegal supplies by Armenians, under the aegis of the temporary Russian peacekeeping mission in the Karabakh region, through the Lachin road and other roads bypassing it, continued despite multiple warnings and local control measures taken by Baku, necessitating the urgent installation of the checkpoint.

Currently, the checkpoint enables free and safe movement to and from the Karabakh region, based on the legislation of Azerbaijan. It was temporarily closed twice in May and June for investigation purposes following bloody provocations committed by the Armenian military. From April to July, more than 1,927 people freely crossed the Armenia-Azerbaijan border using the Lachin checkpoint.