BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 20. Since the establishment of the Lachin border checkpoint by Azerbaijan, a total of 1,927 Armenian residents of Karabakh have passed the border, Permanent Representative of Azerbaijan to the OSCE Rovshan Sadigbayli said at a special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in response to the speech of Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, Trend reports.
"Azerbaijan's establishment of checkpoint on the Lachin road on the border was a necessary measure to put an end to these illegal practices. Meanwhile, proper conditions have been created for the transparent and regulated passage of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan in both directions. Since 23 April, the date when the check point was established, 1,927 persons have passed the border by using the checkpoint, despite the relentless efforts and false propaganda by the Armenian side to dissuade them from using it," he said.
However, as Sadigbayli pointed out, on 15 June 2023, Armenia resorted to another military provocation, firing in the direction of the checkpoint, that resulted in injury of one Azerbaijani border guard.
"Firing by the Armenian forces at the road used by Armenian residents is not only irresponsible move, but endangers the lives of civilians using this road and impedes their passage. Despite serious security challenges caused by this provocation, Azerbaijan has resumed the operation of the checkpoint for the movement of the ICRC-facilitated transportation for medical purposes," he added.
Moreover, Armenia's attempts to misuse the Lachin road for illegal activities have not ceased.
"On 11 July 2023, the State Border Service of Azerbaijan reported that it detected numerous attempts to smuggle various types of goods in the ICRC vehicles, leading to temporary suspension of the passage through the checkpoint. Confirmation of this fact by the ICRC, which issued revealing statement about these incidents, demonstrated once again that establishing a checkpoint was a long overdue measure to ensure transparency along the road," he said.
Following a temporary suspension of movement by the State Border Service of Azerbaijan to conduct necessary investigative measures, the ICRC has resumed its operations at the checkpoint for medical evacuations. Moreover, taking the possible negative impact of the situation seriously, Azerbaijan has also expressed its readiness to facilitate the transportation of humanitarian supplies to the Armenian residents via the Aghdam-Khankendi road, Sadigbayli concluded.