Azerbaijan said on Sunday it had established a checkpoint at the start of the Lachin Corridor, the only land route connecting Armenia to Nagorno-Karabakh, a move followed by claims of border shootings by both Azerbaijani and Armenian forces.
What is Nagorno-Karabakh?
Nagorno-Karabakh, called Artsakh by Armenians, is a landlocked mountainous region in the South Caucasus.
It was claimed by both Azerbaijan and Armenia after the fall of the Russian Empire in 1917 and has remained a point of tension ever since.
The area is internationally recognized as part of oil-rich Azerbaijan, but the inhabitants are predominantly ethnic Armenians and have their own government, which has close ties to the government in neighboring Armenia, but has not been officially recognized by it or any other member of the United Nations. states.
Armenians, being Christians, claim long historical dominance in the area, dating back to several centuries BC.
Azerbaijan, whose inhabitants are predominantly Muslim, also links its historical identity to the area. It accuses the Armenians of driving out Azeris who lived in the area in the 1990s. It wants to take full control of the enclave, suggesting that ethnic Armenians take or leave Azerbaijani passports.
What’s the History?
Over the centuries, the enclave has come under the rule of Persians, Turks, Russians, Ottomans and Soviets.
After the 1917 Russian Revolution, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought over the region. When the Bolsheviks took over Azerbaijan, Armenia agreed to Bolshevik control, ushering in the Sovietization of the entire Caucasus.
Karabakh, with its borders redrawn to include as many Armenians as possible, remained part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, but with autonomy. Its name was the “Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast”.
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
As the Soviet Union disintegrated, what is known as the First Nagorno-Karabakh War (1988-1994) broke out between Armenians and their Azerbaijani neighbours. About 30,000 people were killed and more than a million people were displaced.
Azerbaijan lost some of its territory, leaving Armenians in control of most of Karabakh, in addition to additional territory around Karabakh’s perimeter. Azerbaijan promised to take back control of the area.
The 44 Day War in 2020
In 2020, after decades of skirmishes, Azerbaijan embarked on a military operation that grew into the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, quickly breaking through the Armenian defenses. Azerbaijan, backed by Turkey, won a resounding victory in the 44-day war and recaptured parts of Karabakh.
The use of drones purchased from Turkey and Israel was cited by military analysts as one of the main reasons for Azerbaijan’s victory. Several thousand people were killed.
Russia, an ally of Armenia that also has good relations with Azerbaijan, stepped in to negotiate a ceasefire.
Under the deal, Azerbaijan got all areas around Karabakh. That left ethnic Armenians in Karabakh with a much smaller territory. Armenia labeled the outcome of the war a disaster and unrest broke out in Yerevan.
The deal provided for the deployment of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh to guard the only road connecting the enclave to Armenia – the so-called Lachin Corridor – and the construction of a new route along the corridor.
Azerbaijan pledged to ensure the safety of traffic along the corridor in both directions.
After the ceasefire, fighting continued to erupt, and in December 2022, Azerbaijani citizens identifying themselves as environmentalists began a blockade of the Lachin Corridor, closing Karabakh to all but Russian peacekeepers and Red Cross convoys.
Azerbaijan denied it completely blocked the road and said some convoys and relief supplies had been allowed through.
What happens now?
On Sunday, Azerbaijani forces set up a new checkpoint near the Armenian border at the start of the Lachin Corridor in what Armenia says is an explicit violation of the November 2020 ceasefire.
Azerbaijan said the move, which threatens to cut Karabakh off completely, was intended to end Armenian arms supplies to what it calls a separatist government.
The United States said it was deeply concerned about the move and called for free and open movement along the corridor.
The Kremlin said there was no alternative to the 2020 ceasefire between Armenia and Azerbaijan and that it was engaged in talks between Baku and Yerevan.
The Lachin Corridor crisis has strained ties between Russia and Armenia, which has repeatedly called on Moscow to enforce the November 2020 ceasefire and open the Lachin Corridor, while Moscow has said Armenia is refusing peace talks with Azerbaijan .