Azerbaijan extends COVID-19 border closure
- 12 March, 13:32
Azerbaijan has extended the closure of its land borders until July as a measure to fight COVID-19. Azerbaijan closed its land borders first in March 2020 as a response to the spread of coronavirus.
The special quarantine regime has been extended multiple times since three years ago. It’s unknown how long Azerbaijan's land borders will remain closed. Earlier, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said the borders will remain closed as long as necessary.
“The direction of the spread of most diseases are land borders. That’s why we keep our borders closed [...] and we’ll keep our land borders closed as long as necessary. We do this to protect people’s health,” Aliyev said during a speech in July 2022.
The closure of land borders has made it difficult for Azerbaijanis living in Russia and Georgia to travel to their homeland. Hundreds attempted to enter Azerbaijan through Russia in early 2020, but were turned away at the border. Many camped out
near the border for several months, before either flying into Azerbaijan or returning to Russia.
