From the speech of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev at the meeting with a group of people from Shusha and Lachin - 6 May 1996

“...Lachin District is of great strategic importance in terms of protecting independence and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan. It is not accidental that the Armenians wanted to capture first Lachin and Shusha in the May of 1992 in order to occupy other territories of Azerbaijan. It is natural. Those who know the geography realize it. Armenia always wanted to annex Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh are linked with each other through the Lachin corridor. The existence of Lachin meant the absence of communications between Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. They wanted to obtain direct communications and they achieved it in 1992…”