Lachin corridor

The Lachin corridor (Armenian: Լաչինի միջանցք, romanized: Lachini mijantsk; Azerbaijani: Laçın koridoru, Laçın Dəhlizi) is a mountain pass providing a link between 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.

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

During the First Nagorno-Karabakh War from 1988 to 1994, the corridor came under the control of the Artsakh Defence Army. 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.

According to the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, a new corridor will be built in the region to avoid the city of Lachin in the next 3 years or earlier.[3]

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.

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