The International Crisis Group has published a new report on settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and is examining the current situation. The report, among the possible steps of the USA and the reference to Baku’s position regarding the road to Nakhichevan, presents Baku’s position regarding installing a checkpoint in the Lachin Corridor.
The report notes that Baku appears to be looking at the checkpoint to assert control over the NK territories that are out of its hands. Indeed, an Azerbaijani official in a conversation with “Crisis Group” characterized the move as a “restoration of sovereignty.” Another Azerbaijani official said Baku would use the new checkpoint to “observe, control and influence” Nagorno-Karabakh.
Although Azerbaijan agreed to monitor the corridor by Russian peacekeepers as part of the November 2020 agreement, it is now clearly unhappy with the arrangement. Azerbaijani officials regularly express anger at their lack of authority over the area.
Although Russian troops share lists of foreign nationals crossing into Nagorno-Karabakh with Baku, Azerbaijan wants to be the only one to control who enters and leaves Nagorno-Karabakh. Although the checkpoint cannot ensure Azerbaijani influence and control over Nagorno-Karabakh, it is a step in that direction.
