BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The opening of
the Aghdam-Khankendi road is the beginning of the practical
reintegration of Karabakh Armenians into the political and legal
space of Azerbaijan, Igor Korotchenko, general director of the
Caspian Institute for Strategic Studies (Russia), wrote on social
networks, Trend reports.
“Now there is no “blockade”, “mass starvation,” or
“genocide”—the propaganda husk has come off. As much as the
separatists and their lobbyists did not hinder the opening of the
Aghdam-Khankendi road, this transportation artery finally started
working. At the same time, traffic on the Lachin road was opened
with observance of border and customs procedures established by
Azerbaijani legislation,” he emphasized.
Moreover, the separatists in Karabakh finally submitted to
Azerbaijan’s conditions and agreed to the simultaneous opening of
the Lachin road and the Aghdam-Khankendi road.
Thus, the separatist leaders stated that they decided to accept
the joint proposal of the Khankendi office of the International
Committee of the Red Cross and the command of the Russian
peacekeepers on simultaneous transportation of food by ICRC
vehicles along the Lachin road and the Aghdam-Khankendi road.
In fact, there was an agreement on the simultaneous opening of
these routes as early as September 1. The separatists expediently
delayed this process.
Also, the vehicles of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) crossed the Lachin border checkpoint parallel to the
Aghdam-Khankendi road without hindrance on September 18.
