BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 18. The parallel opening of Aghdam-Khankendi and Lachin roads for trucks should be regarded as a success of Azerbaijani diplomacy, dean of UNEC's Faculty of Turkic World Economy, professor of Uludag University Mehmet Yuce told TurkicWorld.

He noted that although Armenia claims that it has proposed to open these routes in parallel, this does not correspond to the facts.

"On the contrary, although it was agreed to open these routes simultaneously on September 1, separatists in Karabakh prevented this. This initiative was related to Azerbaijan's policy towards Armenians living in Karabakh, and Armenia and the separatists in Karabakh tried to prevent this. As you know, there were two issues raised by Azerbaijani diplomacy in connection with this," he said.

First, Mehmet Yuce noted that the delivery of aid to Khankendi via the Aghdam-Khankendi route means respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. Therefore, the cargo that the Russian Red Cross Society sent to the citizens of Armenian origin living in Karabakh was delivered via the Aghdam-Khankendi road. The signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Azerbaijan Red Crescent Society and the Russian Red Cross Society is a step taken within the framework of respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

"Secondly, Azerbaijan has repeatedly stated to the international community that the Armenians living in Karabakh are its citizens, and therefore the state is ready to undertake the obligation to ensure their safe residence. The opening of the Aghdam road does not cancel Azerbaijan's demand to withdraw all Armenian armed formations from Karabakh," he added.

Meanwhile, the separatists in Karabakh finally submitted to Azerbaijan's conditions and agreed to the simultaneous opening of the Lachin road and the Aghdam-Khankendi road. Thus, the separatist leaders decided to accept the joint proposal of the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Khankendi and the command of the Russian peacekeepers on simultaneous transportation of food by ICRC vehicles along the Lachin road and the Aghdam-Khankendi road. The agreement on the simultaneous opening of these routes was actually reached on September 1. The separatists delayed this process for more than two weeks.

Trucks belonging to the International Committee of the Red Cross, parallel to the Aghdam-Khankendi road, also passed through the Lachin border checkpoint.