Azerbaijan set up checkpoint on the only land route between Armenia and the contested Nagorno-Karabakh enclave

On April 22nd, Azerbaijan set up a checkpoint on the only land route between Armenia and the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, which has provoked outrage from its arch-rival Yerevan, who called it a “gross violation” of the 2020 ceasefire agreement. This move followed claims of border shootings by both Azeri and Armenian forces. The checkpoint could escalate tensions between the two countries, which have fought two wars in the 1990s and 2020 over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. The area is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but is home to a predominantly ethnic Armenian population.

In 2020, a Russia-brokered ceasefire ended the conflict, requiring Azerbaijan to guarantee safe passage on the Lachin corridor, which is patrolled by Moscow’s peacekeepers. However, Baku has argued that it established the checkpoint on the road leading to Karabakh due to Armenia’s use of the road to transport weapons.

Azerbaijan claimed that it built the checkpoint following “threats and provocations” from Armenia, which the latter denies. Baku stated that the checkpoint was established to prevent the illegal transportation of manpower, weapons, and mines and would be implemented in collaboration with the Russian peacekeeping force. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that border security and safe traffic on the road are the government’s prerogative and essential for national security, state sovereignty, and the rule of law. Azerbaijan also alleged that military convoys entered its territory to build military infrastructure at the point closest to Azerbaijan’s territory. In response to these allegations, the Armenian foreign ministry called the claim “far-fetched” and considered the checkpoint at the Hakari bridge in the Lachin corridor a “gross violation” of the 2020 ceasefire agreement.

Both sides blamed each other for recent attacks. Several servicemen from both sides were killed in recent months amid clashes. The Armenian defence ministry said that Azeri forces opened fire on an Armenian position, killing a soldier named Artyom Poghosyan, while Azerbaijan denied the attack and claimed to have been responding to enemy fire by Armenian soldiers who fired on Azeri units. Armenia has denied this claim.