Armenia’s Ambassador to Iran has refuted Azerbaijan’s idea for the so-called “Zangezur corridor,” emphasizing that his country won’t allow any third party to use its soil to establish any route.
In an interview with Tasnim News Agency, Arsen Avagyan lashed out at the Republic of Azerbaijan for proposing the idea of the so-called “Zangezur corridor” while Yerevan and Baku have not signed any document in this regard.
Armenia has made it clear several times that it won’t allow any country to use any route on its soil and has not made any commitment to such an issue, he stated.
The envoy stressed that Armenia remains committed only to the content of the trilateral statement signed on November 9, 2020, about securing safe land connections between the western parts of the Azerbaijan Republic and the Nakhijevan.
To that end, Avagyan added, a number of border crossings have been set up along the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan. “As mentioned by the prime minister of Armenia, Azerbaijanii citizens can now use these routes to travel to Nakhijevan and vice versa.”
Asked about the ceasefire between Yerevan and Baku and the latest political and legal situation in the Caucasus, the envoy said Armenia has repeatedly expressed its readiness to sign a peace treaty with Azerbaijan and start the process of demarcation of boundaries.
Despite the international community’s explicit recommendation for the establishment of peace, Azerbaijan has always launched new schemes instead of carrying out the previous agreements, the Ambassador stated.
He said the Azerbaijani schemes have since May 2021 resulted in the occupation of large pieces of land that are within the borders under the sovereignty of Armenia.
Deploring the aggressive policies of Azerbaijan, the Ambassador said Azerbaijani military forces launched an onslaught on residential areas on September 13 and 14, bombed and shelled the Armenian regions, illegally occupied parts of Armenia’s provinces of Syunik and Gegharkunik, and posed direct threats to the Armenian cities and its urban infrastructures.
The fundamental measure to achieve peace is the cessation of Azerbaijan’s hostile actions against Armenia and the return to the course of peace talks with the purpose of signing a peace treaty, he underlined.
As a result of the Azerbaijani military attacks in May 2021, November 2021 and September 2022, the internationally-recognized territorial integrity of Armenia has been violated, he added.
The Ambassador also said that Armenia has always shown constructive behavior and offered flexible proposals to address the problems.
