Lachin corridor

The Lachin corridor (Azerbaijani: Laçın dəhlizi, Armenian: Բերձորի միջանցք, Berdzori mijantsk) is a mountain road in Azerbaijan linking Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Being the only road between these two territories, it was considered a humanitarian corridor or lifeline to the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh. Until Armenia secured the Lachin corridor in 1992, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh were entirely isolated, relying solely on their own limited resources and aid flown in from Armenia. At that time, humanitarian aid from the Red Cross, the UN, and France were blocked by Azerbaijani authorities.

Following the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, Armenia conceded control of the corridor to a Russian peacekeeping force. In 2022, the government of Azerbaijan re-imposed a siege of Nagorno-Karabakh which involved blocking the Lachin corridor. These actions were criticized by numerous countries, international organizations and human rights groups, many of which considered them to be a violation of the ceasefire agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.

On 23 April 2023, Azerbaijani officials set up a checkpoint in the corridor, claiming it was meant to prevent "illegal" transport of military supplies and natural resources, however, the republics of Armenia and Artsakh denied these allegations and the ceasefire agreement did not explicitly limit the use of the Lachin corridor to humanitarian needs. After a military offensive in September 2023, Azerbaijani forces took control of the entirety of Nagorno-Karabakh, after which nearly all of the region's Armenian population fled to Armenia through the Lachin corridor.