Azerbaijan unveils alternative route for aid to Armenian residents in Karabakh

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – Azerbaijan on Thursday said that representatives of the diplomatic corps in the country visited the Aghdam-Khankendi road, an alternative route proposed by Baku to provide aid to Armenian residents in Karabakh.

“We are at the entrance of Agdam-Askaran-Khankandi road. Diplomatic corps and (an) international group of journalists will see the functionality of the road and two trucks of food cargo consisting of flour delivered by the Red Crescent Society of Azerbaijan,” Hikmet Hajiyev, an Azerbaijani presidential aide, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In an earlier statement, Azerbaijan’s Red Crescent Society (AzRCS) said that about 60 people, including diplomatic corps and international journalists, arrived in the area where 40 tons of flour had been waiting to enter the city of Khankendi since Tuesday.

On Tuesday, the AzRCS declared that it sent 40 tons of flour to Armenian residents in Karabakh through the Aghdam-Khankendi road. However, the passage of the aid was blocked by a checkpoint of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the area.

Despite ongoing talks over a long-term peace agreement, tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia rose in recent months over the Lachin road, the only land route giving Armenia access to the Karabakh region, where Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint in April on the grounds of preventing the illegal transport of military arms and equipment to the region.

Since then, Yerevan has accused Azerbaijan of causing a “humanitarian crisis” in the region. Baku has vehemently denied Armenia’s claims and has proposed the use of the Aghdam-Khankendi road for shipments to the region.

Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages, and settlements from Armenian occupation during 44 days of clashes. The war ended with a Russia-brokered peace agreement.