"Azerbaijan is gradually moving towards Khankendi." Opinion from Baku

Activists close Lachin corridor

On the morning of December 12, Azerbaijani activists blocked the only road linking Khankendi (Stepanakert) with Armenia. The protesters demand that Andrey Volkov, the commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, visit the scene of the protest; they also demand that Azerbaijani specialists obtain access to Karabakh mines. According to expert Agshin Kerimov, with these “hybrid operations, Azerbaijan is gradually moving towards Khankendi.”

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At 10:30 local time on December 12, Azerbaijani public and environmental activists blocked the Lachin corridor, the only road linking Khankendi (Stepanakert) with Armenia.

The Azerbaijani side demands from the command of the Russian peacekeeping contingent, temporarily stationed in Karabakh after the end of the war in the fall of 2020, the admission of its specialists to mineral mines in this part of the region.

"Soft reconnaissance" in Lachin corridor

A group of Azerbaijani environmentalists and journalists blocked the road in the Lachin corridor for several hours.

Representatives of state departments gathered on the Lachin road not far from the entrance to the city of Shusha (Shushi), with the commander of the peacekeeping contingent Andrei Volkov. According to media reports, the meeting reached an agreement to monitor minerals in Karabakh, where, according to Baku’s official opinion, illegal gold mining operations have beem observed. Azerbaijan claims that gold mined in the internationally recognized territory of the country is transported by trucks to Armenia.

Azerbaijani officials meet with peacekeeper leadership in Khojaly

A meeting of Azerbaijani state employees and Russian peacekeeper heads was held in Khojaly to discuss illegal mining operations in Karabakh

Despite their demands and after ten hours, the Azerbaijani activists failed to meet with Volkov. The protest was still happening at the time of writing, and the Lachin corridor remained blocked.

Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev, then spoke on the phone with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. According to the Kremlin, in both cases it was about the fulfillment of the terms of the tripartite statement.

Expert comment

The reason for the protest was the actions of Russian peacekeepers temporarily stationed in Karabakh, political observer Agshin Kerimov believes:

“In fact, the peacekeepers are not fulfilling their tasks assigned to them by the tripartite statement of November 10, 2020. They receive direct orders from Moscow and have become a tool for fueling tensions between Baku and the Kremlin.

First of all, the peacekeeping contingent is obliged to fulfill the conditions of the fourth paragraph of the statement, which refers to the complete withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan.

But, despite this, Russia is trying to maintain the dominant position of the Russian Federation in this region.”

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Kerimov believes that Russia understands that sooner or later it will have to leave Karabakh, and so Moscow has moved on to its Plan B:

“Gradually, Russian businessmen are migrating to Khankendi, Khojaly and other cities, where they are given specific tasks to aggravate an already difficult situation.”

Kerimov also mentioned the fact that Putin called Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev after the start of protests on the Lachin corridor:

“This conversation can become an announcement of the implementation of the agreements reached between the presidents of the two countries on those issues in which Azerbaijan insists on its principles.

Baku is ready for economic cooperation with the Kremlin, but not at the expense of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Kerimov listed the conditions that Azerbaijan could put before Russia:

“One — change the commander of the RMK and completely subordinate the activities of peacekeepers in Karabakh to the terms of the tripartite statement. And two — demand from the peacekeepers purely peacekeeping work in this region and refrain from illegal actions, both military and economic.”

With such “hybrid operations, Azerbaijan is gradually approaching Khankendi, and the process will end with the establishment of Baku’s sovereign rights over the entire territory of Karabakh,” Kerimov concluded.

Activists close Lachin corridor