On May 28th, 2025, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Azerbaijani head of state Ilham Aliyev inaugurated an airport in Lachin, a former crossing point between the Republic of Armenia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh. Its opening reveals the symbolic and material dimensions of Azerbaijan’s takeover. Lachin, which yesterday represented the bottleneck of a blockade imposed on the Armenian population, the entrance to the ‘road of life’ that remained desperately closed to the Armenian population of the enclave for nine long months in 2023, is now set to become a hub for regional integration, according to the authorities in Baku.
The Azerbaijani government has long expressed its ambition to transform this region into a showcase for its power and prosperity. President Aliyev has repeatedly reaffirmed, notably before COP29 and more recently, his desire to make these territories a symbol of sustainable economic policy1« President Ilham Aliyev: Development of Liberated Territories as a Green Energy Zone is Central to Azerbaijan’s Sustainable Energy Strategy”. Renewables.az 2 juin 2025. Link to the article and to strengthen Azerbaijan’s position as a hub for Eurasian transport networks2« Azerbaijan touts $20bn investments and green energy pact as Turkic bloc eyes deeper economic ties”. BNE Intellinews. 21 mai 2025. Link to the article.
A strategic expansion of air transport infrastructure in the region
The Baku government has clearly stated its intention to integrate the conquered territories into all possible local and regional dynamics. It intends to make Karabakh a symbol of renewed power through a policy of major construction projects resulting from the combination of three factors: strong financial capacity, a carefully considered strategic vision for the region, and the ultra-voluntaristic approach to land use planning characteristic of highly autocratic regimes Several renewable energy projects have been launched, which has inevitably led to accusations of greenwashing, particularly after the COP29 fiasco3« Cop29 CEO filmed agreeing to facilitate fossil fuel deals at climate summit”. The Guardian. 8 novembre 2024. Link to the article.
The authorities have built multiple transport infrastructures in the region. Three airports have been built since 2021 in an area the size of the Île-de-France region, which had fewer than 10,000 inhabitants in September 2024. The government has also built a number of roads connecting the various towns and villages. In Agdam, Ilham Aliyev inaugurated a bus and train station in May 2025, capable of handling around 1,000 passengers a day4« Azerbaijan Launches New Transportation Hub in Karabakh Region”. Caspian News. 13 mai 2025. Link to the article.
These three new sites, which have no passengers but are classified as ‘international airports’, clearly demonstrate the desire to integrate the region into the new dynamics of a Turkic world undergoing major changes, where Azerbaijan makes no secret of its ambition to become a major hub. Azerbaijan’s transport policies also reflect its successful integration into broader territorial strategies, the result of a partnership with China under the ‘New Silk Roads’ initiative launched by Beijing in 2013. The country is located on the Middle corridor, which connects China to Europe via the Caspian Sea, thus bypassing Russia. To facilitate the transport of goods, the Azerbaijani government signed an agreement with Georgia and Kazakhstan in June 2023 to establish a joint logistics operations centre, which is expected to reduce the transport time for goods from 18 to 10-15 days5« Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia to Set Up Joint Logistics Company to Facilitate Cargo Transportation Process”. Astana Times. 23 juin 2023. Link to the article. More recently, in July 2024, Azerbaijan and China signed a strategic partnership agreement6« Azerbaijan Becomes a Transportation Hub: ADY’s Key Achievements in International Corridor Development in 2024 ». Site d’Azerbaijan Railways. Communiqué de presse du 10 janvier 2025. Press release dated 10 January 2025. Link to the article.
A Major Turkish-Azerbaijani Project
The project to build an airport around Lachin with public funds was launched as soon as the district was captured by Azerbaijani forces. Available satellite data, as well as information provided by the construction company itself indicate that work began in 2021. The Aliyev couple visited the site in September 2024.
Two companies have been mainly responsible for the work: AzVirt, an Azerbaijani construction company that builds roads and airports in Azerbaijan and the Balkans, and FibroBeton, a Turkish firm responsible for the building’s cladding. Foreign companies have also won contracts, such as Germany’s DFS Aviation Service GmbH, which equipped the site with its Phoenix air traffic control system following a meeting between its CEO Andreas Poetzsch and Farhan Guliyev, director of AZANS, the air navigation department of Azerbaijan Airlines, at the Passenger Terminal Expo 2024 in Frankfurt7« Azerbaijan Airlines and DFS Aviation Services modernise Laçin Airport”. Site de DFS Aviation Service. Press release dated 12 April 2024. Link to the press release..
The project is in line with the spirit of the Shusha Declaration of 15 June 2021, a Turkish-Azerbaijani cooperation agreement covering the gas, military and economic sectors, among others. It states that “The parties will strengthen their mutual cooperation with the aim of improving the competitiveness of the East-West/Median international transport corridor passing through the territories of both countries. Turkey and Azerbaijan will further develop the transit-transport potential on the Turkish-Azerbaijani segments of international transport corridors […]8Text of the Shusha Declaration (Turkish version). Available online at: Link to the Declaration“. Turkish companies are particularly active in this field, and another construction company, Milatek, has been commissioned to build the airports in Fizuli9The project to build Fizuli Airport on the Milatek site. Link to the website and Zangilan10The Zangilan Airport development project at the Milatek site. Link to the website. Their presence helps to strengthen economic cooperation in a region conquered by both countries. The opening to foreign companies makes this territorial conquest visible and ultimately turns Karabakh, step by step, into a market like any other.
The symbolic dimension of a political project
The airport is not located in the immediate vicinity of the town of Lachin, but about 60 kilometres away, near the village of Lolabaghirli. Its construction began when Azerbaijan seized the adjacent territory, while the municipality still formed the ‘corridor of life’ linking the areas under Armenian control to the Republic of Armenia. Today, it takes about two hours to drive from the city to the airport. The site, which is unlikely to welcome thousands of passengers any time soon, primarily embodies the performative dimension of Aliyev’s domination over the region. It also symbolises the capture of this emblematic city, which was first blockaded and then ethnically cleansed, with no one held accountable.
These well-equipped international airports contrast sharply with Armenian airports. Stepanakert airport has not been used since the fall of the Soviet Union. As for Kapan and Goris, only 47 kilometres away, although they connect the Armenian capital to Syunik, their ambitions remain modest in comparison. The construction of an airport in Lachin would also create a situation of economic competition, even in the hypothetical event of the border being opened, in which the integration of the region, despite the rhetoric, would seem to stop at the borders of the Republic of Armenia.