Image by Arzu Geybullayeva.

Azerbaijan's land borders have been closed for almost five years. The decision to close all land borders with neighboring Iran, Russia, Georgia and Turkey (the country's border with Armenia has been closed for more than 30 years) was first taken during the special quarantine regime which was introduced after the first case of coronavirus infection was detected in March 2020. Since then, the period of the special quarantine regime has been extended many times, most recently this September. During these years, the authorities often cited COVID-19 concerns as the main reason, even long after the World Health Organization (WHO) announced in May 2023 that COVID-19 was no longer a public health emergency.

Closed borders mean Azerbaijani citizens cannot cross to the neighboring countries either on foot or by vehicle. However, this was not the case for cargo traffic, which was allowed to continue unimpeded. Last July, the Nakhchivan Customs Department Official disclosed that the Sadarak in remote Nakhchivan (bordering Turkey) was the only open land border. 

From COVID-19 measures to security measures

The authorities changed their narrative around closed borders for the first time following a deadly terrorist attack in Moscow in March 2024. Citing national security, they tried to justify the country’s shut borders despite growing criticism. 

Months later, ahead of COP29 in April 2024, President Ilham Aliyev reiterated that while the closed land borders were still a matter of COVID-related restrictions, it was more a security measure at that point. 

“Keeping the land borders closed was a decision made because of COVID. We are still formally in the quarantine phase. But at the same time, let's be frank, the decision to keep borders closed is not only based on that. As a president, as a person who, on a daily basis, deals with the issues of national security, I can say that we have seen tremendous benefits for our national security after we closed our borders,” said the president in a speech in April 2024 during an international forum at COP29 held in the capital Baku.

Then, in September, during the opening of the parliamentary session, the president said, “… with absolute certainty, the closure of our land borders over the past few years has saved us from many major disasters. Even today, with the borders closed, dangerous developments unfold and are being prevented [by keeping the borders closed].”

The decision to keep borders closed was met with support by Azerbaijani officials. During a parliamentary plenary session on November 25, 2024, one member of the parliament Zahid Oruj, linked the border closure to the Russia-Ukraine war and Iran's military operations. Oruc warned that opening the borders would bring in 100,000 non-Azerbaijani refugees. “The collision of humanitarian, social, and cultural differences caused by such a wave of refugees can endanger political stability,” he warned.

Experts say the government's reasoning to keep land borders closed is baseless. When authorities mentioned security concerns for the first time in March 2024, prominent researcher and commentator Cavid Agha wrote on Facebook, “The closure of Azerbaijan’s land borders is important for our safety. As you know, terrorists never come on a plane; they only pass the land customs.” 

Opposition politician Jamil Hasanli questioned the government’s security narrative, noting that with the war in Ukraine now in its third year and with Iran facing decades-long sanctions, if indeed there was a threat of refugees entering Azerbaijan as a result of existing conditions, it should have happened already. “Why haven’t these hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived in Azerbaijan yet? And if the concern is with refugees from Russia or Iran, why have land borders with Georgia and Turkey remained closed for nearly five years?” questioned Hasanli.

In an interview with Global Voices, political expert Alya Yagublu said if there are security procedures in place for air transportation and individuals are permitted entry into the nation only following certain security checks, the same should apply to traveling by land.

Yagublu also called Oruc’s earlier remarks on the ongoing war in Ukraine an excuse.  

She explained that the government of Azerbaijan was, in fact, preventing Azerbaijani emigrants from returning to the country by keeping land borders closed. “Russia and Ukraine are home to millions of Azerbaijanis. Millions of Azerbaijanis live overseas. To avoid worsening the already challenging economic situation, the authorities have prevented their return back home.”

In March 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, hundreds of Azerbaijani labor migrants were reportedly stuck at the Azerbaijan-Russia border because of the closed borders.

According to  Vladanka Andreyeva, the UN coordinator for Azerbaijan, some one million Azerbaijanis lived abroad in 2022.  

According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) report analysing migration trends in Azerbaijan between 2013–2021, the emigration of Azerbaijani citizens abroad has been on the rise since 2016/17. The top three recipient countries are the Russian Federation, Turkey and Germany, where Azerbaijanis settle either under temporary or permanent emigration procedures. 

Yagublu believes that in keeping land borders closed, the authorities are violating the human rights of Azerbaijani citizens both at home and abroad. “It is clear that people who are in a less favorable financial situation and face financial difficulties, cannot travel anywhere by air. For Azerbaijanis living in neighboring Georgia, the restrictions imposed by the authorities on land borders have left them with no other option than to use airplanes to travel between the two countries in times of emergency.” 

This has been the case for 53-year-old Elshan Yagubov, an Azerbaijani citizen whose parents live in the Bolnisi region of Georgia. When Yagubov’s mother passed away, he was unable to attend her funeral because of his fear of flying. He still has not been able to visit his mother's grave.

Khaliq Hasanov, 60, has been working as a taxi driver in Russia for many years. He used the land crossing to visit Azerbaijan. When the borders were closed, he was no longer able to visit Azerbaijan. Hasanov suffers from a heart condition and cannot travel by air. In February 2023,  his sister passed away, but he was unable to attend the funeral because of imposed restrictions. 

Farida, 42 (not her real name), suffers from thalassemia and has a second-degree disability status. She made a living by selling perfume and tableware purchased from Iran. The closure changed her life completely. In an interview with JamNews, Farida spoke of the difficulties she had faced since then.  

Altay Goyushov, a history professor and a critic of government policies, wrote on Facebook about how closed borders affected many Azerbaijanis. “Tens of thousands of citizens benefited personally from those land crossings when they were open. They could support their poor livelihoods by bringing cheaper foods and goods. Now, tens of thousands of citizens are facing additional costs when they consider traveling, whether for celebrations or funerals of their friends, acquaintances, relatives,” wrote Goyushov.

In 2023,  some 1,000 ethnic Azerbaijanis living in Georgia signed an online petition calling on President Ilham Aliyev “to restore at least limited movement across the Georgian-Azerbaijani land border.” But this, too, fell on deaf ears. 

With land borders remaining shut and now entering their fifth year, it is unclear how much longer this will be the case but based on the government’s narrative citing security and terrorism concerns, the closed borders appear to be here to stay.