Azerbaijan announced on Sunday that it had installed a first checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin corridor, the only road linking Armenia to the disputed region of Nagorny Karabakh, a decision “unacceptable” for Yerevan.

“From 12:00 (08:00 GMT) on April 23, a border post was set up (…) on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road,” the guards said. Azerbaijani borders in a statement, saying it acted “in response” to a similar decision taken Saturday by Yerevan.

Such a measure, a first since the short war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020, was also put in place “to prevent the illegal transport of labour, weapons and mines from the territory of Armenia for illegal formations of Armenian bandits on the territory of Azerbaijan,” they said.

“On April 22, Ministry of Defense surveillance cameras recorded the entry into Azerbaijani territory of two containers for military purposes and a convoy of Armenian military vehicles, contrary to the Trilateral Declaration and the Norms and Principles of international law”, supported the Azerbaijani diplomacy in a press release, denouncing “provocations” on the part of Yerevan.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry argued that the installation of a checkpoint “will serve transparency on the movements (…), the rule of law, and thus, to ensure the safety and security of the movements “.

According to the Azerbaijani border guards, the Russian peacekeeping force, deployed in the region, and “the Russian-Turkish monitoring center” were “informed” of such a decision.

In a statement, the Armenian Foreign Ministry denounced “a new provocation” with “false and baseless pretexts”. This new step is “unacceptable”, he continued.

The United States says it is “very concerned about the establishment of a checkpoint by Azerbaijan in the Lachin corridor” and calls on both parties to “avoid provocations”, according to a statement from the State Department.

France also “deplores” this installation which “contravenes the commitments made within the framework of the ceasefire agreements and prejudices the negotiation process”, underlined its Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.

Paris called on Baku to “comply with its international obligations”, recalling that a decision rendered two months ago by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest court of the UN, had “binding force” for Azerbaijan.

On February 22, the ICJ ordered Baku to ensure free movement in the Lachin corridor.

For several months, Armenia has also been warning of a “humanitarian crisis” in Karabakh due to an Azerbaijani blockade – which Baku denies – in the area of ??the Lachin corridor which has caused shortages of medicines and food and Power cuts.

The separatist representatives of Nagorny Karabakh have called on Moscow, mediator in the conflict, “to immediately begin discussions” in particular to “prevent the installation of an Azerbaijani checkpoint”.

“We expect effective measures to resolve the security problems as soon as possible” of the inhabitants of the disputed enclave, their security representatives asked in a press release.

Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, clashed in 2020 in a war for control of the enclave of Nagorny-Karabakh.

This conflict resulted in an Armenian military rout and a Russian-sponsored ceasefire agreement.

Clashes in Nagorny-Karabakh or on the border between the two countries, however, continue to break out periodically.

On Sunday, the Armenian Ministry of Defense reported the death of one of its soldiers “as a result of enemy fire” late in the morning near the border.

The Azerbaijani Minister of Defense for his part “denied” this “false” information, saying on the other hand that he “came under Armenian fire” in the afternoon.

“Adequate response measures have been taken,” it said in a statement, without further details.

A mountainous region populated mainly by Armenians and having seceded from Azerbaijan upon the collapse of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh continues to poison relations between Yerevan and Baku, despite Russian, European and American attempts to mediate .

The first conflict, in the early 1990s at the time of the dismantling of the USSR, which left 30,000 dead, ended in an Armenian victory with the support of Moscow.

But Azerbaijan took its revenge in the fall of 2020 during a second war, which left 6,500 dead and allowed it to retake many territories.

04/24/2023 01:39:25 –         Moscow (AFP) –          © 2023 AFP