The Azerbaijani side blocked the Khakari bridge, which is in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping forces in the Lachin corridor, which connects the region with Armenia. This was reported by the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh.
"The authorities of the Republic of Artsakh strongly condemn another provocation by Azerbaijan, considering it a criminal step aimed at strengthening the blockade of Artsakh and ethnic cleansing, which is a violation of both the Tripartite Statement and the binding decision of the International Court of Justice and other fundamental norms of international law," – said at the Information Headquarters.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry stressed that this is how Azerbaijan violates the Trilateral Statement.
“On April 23, 2023, the Azerbaijani authorities, in gross violation of paragraph 6 of the Trilateral Statement of November 9, 2020, have already officially blocked the Lachin corridor, taking steps to install a checkpoint in the corridor in the zone of responsibility of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. This step, taken today by the Azerbaijani armed forces, cannot even be considered as another provocation by Azerbaijan: in fact, this is a gross violation of one of the fundamental provisions of the Tripartite Statement of November 9, 2020, aimed at Azerbaijan's consistent policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and the expulsion of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh . The ongoing illegal blocking of the Lachin corridor since December 12 last year under a fabricated environmental pretext and the installation of a checkpoint today for far-fetched and unfounded reasons are the next steps towards the consistent implementation of this planned policy.”
At the same time, Baku announced that the divisions of the State Border Service (SBS) of Azerbaijan had established a border checkpoint on the border with Armenia at the beginning of the Lachin road – “in order to prevent the illegal transfer of manpower, ammunition, mines, as well as other means military assignment from Armenia for the Armenian armed formations on the territory of Azerbaijan, and is adequate to the unilateral establishment by Armenia of a border checkpoint at the entrance to the Lachin-Khankendi road on the border with Azerbaijan on April 22,” the State Border Service reported. The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry also stated that the specified control mechanism will be carried out in cooperation with the Russian peacekeeping contingent.
At the same time, the authorities of Nagorno-Karabakh say that Azerbaijan "regularly spreads disinformation about the transfer of weapons from Armenia to Artsakh." The Sozbez called on the parties to the tripartite statement of November 9, 2020, and especially the Russian Federation, "to immediately start discussing the issues of lifting the blockade of Artsakh, preventing the creation of an Azerbaijani checkpoint and providing real guarantees for the security of the people of Artsakh."
The overlap occurred on the eve of the day of remembrance of the victims of the Armenian genocide – on this day in 1915 in the Ottoman capital of Istanbul, more than 800 representatives of the Armenian intelligentsia were arrested and later killed. So the Armenian people, most of which at that time lived in Western Armenia, lost most of the intellectual elite. This was followed by a series of murders and deportations of ethnic Armenians.