BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct.27
Trend:
The liberation of Gubadli city and Khanlig settlement means opening access to the Lachin-Khankendi road (Lachin corridor), a Member of Azerbaijani Parliament, a military expert Arzu Naghiyev told Vestnik Kavkaza News Agency, Trend reports.
"The road on which the city and settlement are located is of strategic importance because it leads directly to Lachin and the border with Armenia. It’s vital to take control of the corridor since Armenia uses it to transport supplies, troops, and weapons to the occupied territories,” Naghiyev said. “Azerbaijan is controlling the Sotk-Kalbajar road from Murovdagh mountains and has already cleared a road to the border with Iran. The only remaining road to be taken under control by Azerbaijan is the corridor, being the main artery, along which Armenia feeds the occupying regime.”
The expert emphasized that Azerbaijan will approach the border with Armenia along its entire length, accordingly, it will soon find itself in direct, trans-border proximity with the Armenian cities of Syunik and Kapan.
"Anyway, we must restore our border in the form in which it’s recognized at the international level since the restoration of the independence of Azerbaijan. Sooner or later, this will certainly be done. It’s clear that the Azerbaijani army won’t go to Syunik, as we don’t claim foreign lands, but we’ll return our lands completely," he stressed.
"The same concerns Kalbajar in the north. It will definitely not be left as a buffer zone. These are primordially Azerbaijani lands and they will be liberated. Mountain roads go through the Kalbajar district, along which weapons and terrorists used to be transported from the Armenian side. Since October 17, when a humanitarian ceasefire was introduced, active hostilities in this direction, as well as in others, haven’t been conducted, although Armenia continues to violate the conditions of the ceasefire," concluded the MP.
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.