Armenia the one who closed road from Khankendi - Azerbaijani president's assistant

By Trend

The road connecting Nagorno Karabakh’s Khankendi city with Armenia (Lachin corridor) has been closed by the Armenian side, Assistant to Azerbaijani President, Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmat Hajiyev said.

Hajiyev made the remark commenting on the statement of Reporters Without Borders about impossibility for 80 local and foreign journalists to safely leave Khankendi city for Armenia because of the road’s closure, Trend reports.

According to him, Armenia itself reported about the road’s closure.

“There are two roads from Khankendi to Armenia: one is through the territory of the occupied Kalbajar district of Azerbaijan to the Vardenis city of Armenia, and the other - through the Lachin corridor. According to the latest data, both of the roads are under the control of the Armenian Armed Forces," he added.

Armenian Armed Forces launched a large-scale military attack on positions of the Azerbaijani army on the front line, using large-caliber weapons, mortars, and artillery on Sept. 27.

Azerbaijan responded with a counter-offensive along the entire front. As a result of retaliation, Azerbaijani troops liberated a number of territories previously occupied by Armenia, as well as take important, strategic heights under control.

The fighting continued into October 2020, in the early days of which Armenia has launched missile attacks on Azerbaijani cities of Ganja, Mingachevir, Khizi as well as Absheron district.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, the Armenian Armed Forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on the withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.