By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Azemedia new logo
  • Home
  • COP29
  • Opinion
  • News
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Climate and Ecology
  • Culture
  • Diaspora
  • Interview
  • Science
  • Logistics-Transport
  • Gender
  • History
  • Defense
  • Karabakh
Aze.MediaAze.Media
Font ResizerAa
Search
  • News
  • Economy
  • Climate and Ecology
  • Energy
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Gender
  • Interview
  • Science
  • Logistics-Transport
  • History
  • Defense
  • Karabakh
  • Diaspora
  • Who we are
Follow US
© 2021 Aze.Media – Daily Digest
Aze.Media > Opinion > Azerbaijan’s checkpoint at Lachin road opens a new chapter in the peace process
Opinion

Azerbaijan’s checkpoint at Lachin road opens a new chapter in the peace process

On Sunday (23 April), the Azerbaijani government issued a statement declaring that appropriate measures were taken "to establish control at the starting point of the road on the border between Azerbaijan and Armenia".

AzeMedia
By AzeMedia Published April 26, 2023 8 Min Read
Screenshot 2023 04 26 11.14.25

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, this decision was made to put an end to “systematic and large-scale misuse of the Lachin-Khankandi road for illicit purposes by the Armenian side contrary to the Trilateral Statement of November 10, 2020, and resulting security threats”.

The move was widely celebrated in Azerbaijan as an achievement with no less importance than the results of the Second Karabakh War. Indeed, this is a historic event that can end Armenia’s control and abuse of this road. Thus, the installation of this checkpoint will have a number of implications for the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process and the regional power balance.

Control over borders in an international standard

First and foremost, the checkpoint at the Lachin road spells an end to the most conflictual problem between Baku and Yerevan. Ever since the end of the Second Karabakh War, the Azerbaijani side had been reporting about the transfer of military supplies, landmines, and troops by the Armenian side, occasionally with the help of Russian peacekeepers, to the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan via the Lachin road. Baku was alarmed last year when it observed Iranian fighters entering the Karabakh region, among others, to train the local separatist forces. The checkpoint will help Azerbaijan to control the movement along the road in the future.

It is indeed an international standard for all countries to have control over their borders, hence it is not clear why some countries do not shy away from denying this right to Azerbaijan at the Lachin road. There is not a single country in the world that gives its ethnic minority access to the outside world without border and customs control. No one should expect Azerbaijan to make an exception in this respect.

Secondly, as opposed to the fearmongering campaigns of some experts and politicians, the installation of the checkpoint has the potential to make a great contribution to the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process. It is important to note that Baku has promised at the highest level to provide all the rights and security for the Armenian community in Karabakh. The allegations made by certain individuals and institutions regarding ethnic cleansing, genocide, and possible military escalation are unfounded.

Quite the contrary, it is now more realistic to expect that Armenia and Azerbaijan can sign a peace treaty soon and recognize each other’s territorial integrity with Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan. Hence, the statements made by the Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan a few days before the installation of the checkpoint about the importance of the two countries recognizing their borders as they were during the Soviet times can be prophetic.

Checkpoint will likely reinvigorate opening of transportation links

Third, the checkpoint at the Lachin road will likely reinvigorate the negotiations over the re-opening of the transportation links between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Armenia’s refusal to agree with the building of an Azerbaijani checkpoint at Lachin road, in return of Azerbaijan’s consent to such checkpoints at the Zangazur road, was arguably the most challenging obstacle that undermined all talks about transportation routes. In the aftermath of the latest development, we are now in a different situation. There is now a major reason to expect that Baku and Yerevan will return to the negotiating table and launch works to open the Zangazur road as well.

Last but not least, the installation of a checkpoint at Lachin road demonstrated that Baku is capable of pursuing its own agenda concerning the future of the Karabakh region, despite the tensions between the West and Russia, as well as despite the pressure posed by the Iranian side. The regional international environment is indeed very volatile, to say the least, and balancing the interests of various actors is a tough nut to crack. It is worth recalling that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in the course of his visit to Baku in late February, explicitly opposed the Azerbaijani proposal to set up a checkpoint at the Lachin road, stressing that it was not envisioned in the trilateral statement of 10 November, 2020.

In conclusion, the installation of a checkpoint at the Lachin road marks a significant moment in the peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. It has the potential to end the most conflictual problem between the two nations, permit control of movement along the road, and contribute to the peace process by opening up negotiations for the re-opening of transportation links.

Moreover, it demonstrates that the confrontation between the West and Russia, as well as Iran’s disgruntled policies towards the South Caucasus, may not prevent Baku and Yerevan from pursuing their peace efforts. Overall, this development is a step towards a peaceful and stable future for the region.

Dr Vasif Huseynov, is a Senior Advisor at the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center) and Adjunct Lecturer at Khazar University in Baku, Azerbaijan.

logo-italic

You Might Also Like

If Karabakh is a “disputed territory” for Moscow, then Kaliningrad is Königsberg, Chechnya is Ichkeria, and the Kurils are not part of Russia

Armenia and Azerbaijan dialogue in the context of the European Political Community

The Organization of Turkic States is emerging as a key geopolitical actor in Eurasia

Medinsky, Karabakh, and the “extra chromosome”: When presidential advisors lose track of the map

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as new candidates for the Abraham Accords?

AzeMedia April 26, 2023 April 26, 2023

New articles

If Karabakh is a “disputed territory” for Moscow, then Kaliningrad is Königsberg, Chechnya is Ichkeria, and the Kurils are not part of Russia
Opinion June 12, 2025
1536x864 cmsv2 e847fdab bd87 5834 9faf 8e2a78273603 9290681
Armenia and Azerbaijan dialogue in the context of the European Political Community
Opinion June 12, 2025
960x0
Peace with land mines?
News June 12, 2025
Turkish and uzbek soldiers
Joint military exercises to strengthen ties between Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan
Defense June 12, 2025
416955141 0 0 2000 1130 2072x0 60 0 0 b43c7384a10e7ffb76ad7ba8db50304c
“And that constant yapping from the ambassador…” — Musabayov responds to Iran’s loud claims
Interview June 11, 2025
7
Azerbaijan and Germany deepen energy partnership: Gas exports to Germany to double
Energy News June 10, 2025
Maxresdefault
Azerbaijani Ambassador rejects ‘kangaroo court’ allegations in Vardanyan trial
News June 10, 2025
262802
The Organization of Turkic States is emerging as a key geopolitical actor in Eurasia
Opinion June 10, 2025
Farhad 1
Farhad Mammadov: New Delhi begins searching for “culprits” among Islamabad’s allies
Interview June 10, 2025
347495270800715
Medinsky, Karabakh, and the “extra chromosome”: When presidential advisors lose track of the map
Opinion June 10, 2025

You Might Also Like

If Karabakh is a “disputed territory” for Moscow, then Kaliningrad is Königsberg, Chechnya is Ichkeria, and the Kurils are not part of Russia

June 12, 2025 9 Min Read
1536x864 cmsv2 e847fdab bd87 5834 9faf 8e2a78273603 9290681

Armenia and Azerbaijan dialogue in the context of the European Political Community

June 12, 2025 10 Min Read
262802

The Organization of Turkic States is emerging as a key geopolitical actor in Eurasia

June 10, 2025 12 Min Read
347495270800715

Medinsky, Karabakh, and the “extra chromosome”: When presidential advisors lose track of the map

June 10, 2025 4 Min Read
445c22a4 9721 3d99 859b 209900d6410e 850

Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan as new candidates for the Abraham Accords?

June 8, 2025 6 Min Read
Azerbaijan flag 230921

Has the West “lost” Azerbaijan?

June 6, 2025 15 Min Read
Pm nikol pashinyan and his holiness karekin ii catholicos of all armenians november 1 2019

Pashinyan bets on splitting the Church

June 6, 2025 7 Min Read
An indian woman tries out an assault wea

India “destroys” Azerbaijan – but only in headlines

June 4, 2025 6 Min Read

Useful links

426082d1 a9e4 4ac5 95d4 4e84024eb314 pojkz91103g6zqfh8kiacu662b2tn9znit7ssu9ekg
Ab65ed96 2f4a 4220 91ac f70a6daaf659 pojkz67iflcc0wjkp1aencvsa5gq06ogif9cd0dl34
96e40a2b 5fed 4332 83c6 60e4a89fd4d0 pojkz836t9ewo4gue23nscepgx7gfkvx6okbbkasqo
759bde00 a375 4fa1 bedc f8e9580ceeca pq8mvb9kwubqf6bcadpkq5mz16nayr162k3j2084cg
aze-media-logo-ag1

We are a unique political and socio-cultural digest offering exclusive materials, translations from Azerbaijani media, and reprints of articles from around the world about Azerbaijan.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookies Policy

Email: editor@aze.media

© 2021 Aze.Media – Daily Digest
aze-media-logo1 aze-media-logo-ag1
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?