Azerbaijanis Said 'Go and Don't Come Back.' Resident Shares Details from the Lachin Checkpoint

“We passed through that illegal checkpoint yesterday. You know how it is; whenever we look at the Turks, we feel that they are Turks,” said Gegham Harutyunyan, a resident of Mets Shen, in an interview with 24News. He had to pass through the Azerbaijani checkpoint to reach his village.

“They photographed us, checked our passports, and said, 'Go, never come back,'” the resident recounted. “They opened the cargo compartment and looked inside; specifically, two people were checking me, and they spoke in Russian. But in general, there were many of them there. At that moment, they were contemplating whether or not to stamp a border crossing mark in my passport. I asked, 'What are you stamping for?' In the end, they didn’t stamp it,” Gegham Harutyunyan shared.

It is noted that the Minister of State of Artsakh informed that citizens of the Republic of Artsakh had passed through the road unilaterally and smoothly with the support of peacekeepers.

“Due to the establishment of the checkpoint, compatriots remaining in Goris faced Azerbaijanis on their way back to their place of residence. The latter forced our citizens into a helpless situation, making them comply with their demands and filmed the process,” mentioned the post from the Artsakh Minister of State.

It should be highlighted that the Azerbaijanis closed the Hakari bridge connecting Armenia to Artsakh on April 23, which is located in the Lachin Corridor under the control of Russian peacekeepers, and subsequently set up a checkpoint that is not foreseen by the trilateral agreements of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia.