Azerbaijan establishes border checkpoint on disputed land link, igniting tensions with Armenia

In a provocative move that has riled up its arch-enemy Yerevan, Azerbaijan established a border checkpoint yesterday on the only land link between Armenia and the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave. Tensions continue to mount between the two ex-Soviet Caucasus nations with fierce rivalries centred around the Azerbaijani Armenian-majority territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan’s state border service announced…

“The units of the Azerbaijani Border Service established a border checkpoint on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, at the entrance of the Lachin-Khankendi Road.”

The two countries have engaged in two significantly destructive wars in both the 1990s and 2020 over the contested region.

The Russia-brokered ceasefire that halted the 2020 war stipulates that safe passage should be ensured by Azerbaijan along the Lachin corridor, with…