"Aghdam-Stepanakert humanitarian corridor" aimed at doing away with  "Lachin corridor" - expert 

ArmInfo. The so-called "Aghdam-Stepanakert humanitarian corridor" is needed to both  institutionally and de facto do away with the very concept of "Lachin corridor", a lifeline for Armenians, but a basis for the very presence of Russian peacekeepers in Artsakh for Baku, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan, Brussels, Ankara and Washington, political analyst Benjamin Matevosyan believes. 

The logic and messages of Azerbaijani experts, the ideas underlying  Azerbaijani media analyses suggest an inevitable conclusion: Armenian  and Azerbaijani government officials' meetings "in neutral venues to  discuss border delimitation and demarcation" (in the border zone not  under the Russian troops in Armenia), which are being presented to  the West as "direct dialogue between Baku and Yerevan", are aimed at  forcing one more Russian initiative out of the negotiation agenda,  namely, border delimitation and demarcation based on the maps of the  RF General Staff.  

"In this case, it is obvious that the sides are using different maps,  which, in turn, will make one more proposal by Vladimir Putin forced  out of the negotiation process," Mr Matevosyan said.  

The strategic aim of these processes (for example, potential  invitation of a "neutral" Swiss company to render customs services  and supervise the reopening transport links) is not only forcing the  Artsakh Armenians into evacuating Nagorno-Karabakh, which will, in  turn, make Russian military presence in Nagorno-Karabakh and Syunik  senseless and pave the way for further reconfiguration of the region. 

"Evacuation of Armenians and surrender of Karabakh will not end  regional transportation. Rather, the process will enter a new phase.  It is not only Artsakh or entire Armenia that is at stake. It is  creating one more potential base for attacking Iran and a hotbed of  destabilization in Russia's North Caucasus. 

"In the present situation, much depends on the position of the  Artsakh authorities, which not only prefer non-resistance to evil to  political struggle. Rather, by their explicit inaction and  dog-and-pony show are only contributing to potential evacuation of  Artsakh Armenians," Mr Matevosyan said.