We too can have a corridor in Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan, says Security Council Secretary

“There will be no ‘Zangezur Corridor.’” This was stated by the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia, Armen Grigoryan, in an interview with Sputnik Armenia and Civilnet.

According to him, the so-called ‘Zangezur Corridor’ is exclusively an “Azerbaijani narrative” and has no relation to the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020.

Earlier in April, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev declared in an interview with Azerbaijani state television that Baku “will solve the problem of implementing the Zangezur Corridor, whether Armenia likes it or not.” He also threatened to resolve the issue by force.

“There is no word ‘corridor’ in the declaration. We have remained, remain, and will remain within the framework of the trilateral statement. Unblocking does not mean only unblocking one road; we have repeatedly stated that we support the understanding that ‘unblocking’ implies that all communication routes, all roads will be opened,” emphasized Grigoryan.

According to him, this is about roads connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan, such as those in Tavush, Gegharkunik, and Syunik. The Security Council Secretary stated that all these roads should be opened. There cannot be any road that can only be used by Azerbaijanis. They will use Armenian roads, and Armenia will use Azerbaijani roads.

“If Azerbaijan is framing the question this way, then I can unequivocally assert that we too can have a corridor in both Nakhichevan and Azerbaijan. If that is Azerbaijan’s assertion. The term ‘corridor’ cannot be used by Azerbaijan in this context, but if they do, referencing that the roads will be unblocked, then in that context, we also declare that we will have a corridor,” noted Grigoryan.

In response to the question of whether, in the case of Azerbaijani “peacefulness,” free movement of Armenians in Azerbaijani territories is possible, Grigoryan emphasized that it is currently difficult to speak about this, especially in the context of the provocations occurring in Syunik and Gegharkunik. However, in the future, Armenia hopes to implement all mechanisms that will allow achieving this goal with the mediation of Russia.