Azerbaijani president announces some details on Lachin corridor
The strategic importance of Lachin district lies in the fact that the Lachin corridor runs through the territory of the district and through the city of Lachin, President of Azerbaijan, Victorious Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev said as he addressed the nation.
The head of state recalled that for many years, the corridor was under the control of the Armenian armed forces, the occupiers.
“I can say that the initial version of the joint statement signed on 10 November contained a provision on keeping this corridor under the control of the Armenian armed forces. I opposed this and as a result, control over this corridor was transferred to Russian peacekeepers. I think this is a great achievement,” said President Aliyev, stressing that the Lachin corridor has been cleared of Armenian occupying forces.
“The initial version of the statement suggested that the width of the Lachin corridor should be 30 kilometers. I was categorically against this and said that these claims of the Armenian side were absolutely unfounded. There is no need for such a wide corridor to ensure security measures within the corridor. Therefore, I considered this proposal as being absolutely unacceptable and expressed my opinion. The second version envisaged the Lachin corridor as being 10 kilometers wide. I didn’t agree to that either, as a result of which agreement was reached on a corridor 5 kilometers wide. The 5km corridor is wide enough for us, for the Armenians living in Nagorno-Karabakh and for ensuring security,” the head of state added.
He noted that the return of Lachin district to Azerbaijan, especially the issue related to the Lachin corridor, has always been discussed as a very important and separate topic in the negotiations held over many years – for about 30 years.
“In general, the Armenian side believed that the entire Lachin district should be given to them as a corridor. Unfortunately, some Western circles supported this position. As a result, a very serious policy of settlement was carried out in Lachin district. . According to some sources, about 10,000 people may have lived there. There was always an opinion that Lachin district should be retained by Armenia in some form,” the head of state concluded.