Nagorno Garabagh

"The second paragraph states that Agdam district will be returned to the Republic of Azerbaijan on 20 November. This has been done. The third paragraph indicates that a peacekeeping contingent of the Russian Federation consisting of 1,960 military personnel armed with firearms, 90 armored vehicles, 380 vehicles and special equipment will be deployed on the contact line in Nagorno-Karabakh and along the Lachin corridor," said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in his address to the nation, APA reports.

"This has been done. The fourth paragraph states that the term of the statement is five years. If the parties do not raise any objection six months before the expiration of the term, the statement and this agreement will be extended. This is clear. In order to increase the effectiveness of control over compliance with the agreements reached by the parties to the conflict, a peacekeeping center is being established to exercise control over the ceasefire. When this statement was being signed, this paragraph was not elaborated in detail. However, when we were signing it, we agreed that it would be a Turkish-Russian center, and this has also already been resolved. Further, paragraph 6 indicates that the Republic of Armenia returns Kalbajar district to the Republic of Azerbaijan on 15 November and Lachin district before 1 December. As you know, the Russian side turned to us and asked for some time. The return of Kalbajar district to us was ensured not on 15, but on 25 November. This part of paragraph 6 has already been fulfilled. Lachin district has been returned to Azerbaijan. The 5km-wide Lachin corridor will not affect the city of Shusha and will remain under the control of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. I have already commented on this point. The original version proposed 30 kilometers, then 10 kilometers, and it was supposed to remain under the control of the Armenian armed forces, not of the Russian peacekeeping contingent. We removed this from the statement. It was indicated that on the basis of the consent of the parties, a plan for the construction of a new route along the Lachin corridor would be determined in the next three years, providing for communication between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. Thus, in order to protect this route, the Russian peacekeeping contingent is to be relocated in the future. I would like to comment on this issue as well. What is indicated there? Everyone knows that the Lachin corridor passes through the city of Lachin. So Lachin will remain in the middle of this corridor. During my conversations with the President of Russia, I said that the city of Lachin should also be returned to us. Therefore, we propose to build a new corridor, to develop a route for a new corridor connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia and build it. The deadline is also indicated here – within three years. But I believe we can do it sooner. After the parameters of the new corridor have been determined, the city of Lachin will also be returned to us. This issue deserves special attention because if I had not included it in the statement, the Lachin corridor would always have covered the city of Lachin.

The seventh paragraph states that internally displaced persons and refugees will return to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent districts under the control of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. This is also an important matter. The citizens of Azerbaijan must return to all places in Nagorno-Karabakh where they used to live. This issue will be monitored by the UN. It will take time, of course. This will be decided during regular contacts.

The eighth paragraph states that there is an exchange of prisoners of war, hostages and other detainees, as well as bodies. This process is already going on – both the exchange of bodies and prisoners and hostages," the head of the state noted.