Azerbaijan prepares to retake control of Lachin

BAKU (AA) – Azerbaijan will retake control of the city of Lachin and some villages on the route between Khankendi and Armenia at the end of this month in accordance with a joint declaration signed by Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Russian troops and the Armenian population will leave the areas along the route known as the “Lachin corridor,” where Lachin and the villages of Zabuh and Sus are located and which was temporarily put under Russian control in accordance with the tripartite declaration signed between the three countries on Nov. 10, 2020.

According to the declaration, Azerbaijan would build a new road passing outside Lachin which the Armenian population in Karabakh would use on their way to and from Armenia within three years. Azerbaijan completed the 32-kilometer (20-mile) road earlier than planned.

Russian forces providing security on the route of the old Lachin corridor will also move the checkpoints to the new road.

Relations between the former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

As new clashes erupted in September 2020, a 44-day conflict saw Azerbaijan liberate several cities and over 300 settlements and villages that were occupied by Armenia for almost 30 years.

The fighting ended in November 2020 with a deal brokered by Russia that saw Armenia cede chunks of the territory it had occupied for decades.

In January 2021, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia agreed to develop economic ties and infrastructure for the benefit of the entire region.