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Armenia rules out opening ‘sovereign corridor’ for Azerbaijan

Sunday, 03 October 2021 11:13 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 03 October 2021 12:23 PM ]

Armenia’s Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan (File photo)

A senior Armenian security official has ruled out the possibility of opening “sovereign corridors” for its neighbors inside the country’s borders, as part of efforts to resolve the conflict with Azerbaijan.

Armenia’s Secretary of the Security Council Armen Grigoryan told local media that Yerevan may open its roads to be used by Azerbaijan and Turkey, “but these roads will be under the control of the Republic of Armenia."

Grigoryan noted that no “sovereign corridor” will exist inside Armenia’s borders.

The diplomat was apparently referring to remarks made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said last month that issues between Yerevan and Baku “will end with the opening of the corridors.”

Erdogan did not specify which “corridors” he was speaking about, but Azeri President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly called for the establishment of the “Zangezur corridor” that would cross southern Armenia and connect Azerbaijan’s western regions with the country’s Nakhchivan exclave.

Armenia, whose borders to the east and west were cut off due to the border conflict with Azerbaijan, is willing to discuss unblocking all road infrastructure at the level of deputy prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia, but the issue of “corridor” will not be discussed, Grigoryan said.

There is an opportunity for Armenia to discuss these issues and reach a mutual understanding with the neighboring countries, he emphasized.

The main road connecting the cities of Goris and Kapan in Armenia’s Syunik region runs alongside the Azerbaijani border in territory that Baku regained control of following last year’s peace deal.

The Russian-brokered ceasefire ended six weeks of fierce fighting between the two Caucasus countries over Nagorno-Karabakh. The war left an estimated 6,000 people dead on both sides.

Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but has been populated by ethnic Armenians.

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