Yegoyan: “Zangezur Corridor” Term Does Not Appear in Signed Agreements

YEREVAN — Civil Contract parliamentary faction member Arman Yegoyan has responded to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s recent statements regarding the so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” stressing that the term does not appear in any of the documents signed by Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“There is no question of argument or counterargument here. There are signed documents, statements, and even an initialed draft agreement, and nowhere in any of those documents will you find the phrase ‘Zangezur Corridor.’ There is no such thing,” Yegoyan said during a press briefing.

“At the level of political discourse, many people can say many things. We, too, have stated that no infrastructure bearing such a concept or terminology exists on the territory of the Republic of Armenia. What exists in Armenia is the TRIPP project, which bears the signatures of the presidents of Azerbaijan and the United States, as well as the prime minister of Armenia,” Yegoyan said.

He added that additional documents have since been adopted, including the trilateral joint statement issued several days ago on the first anniversary of the August 8 agreement.

“That expression does not appear there either,” he said.

Addressing the unblocking of transportation routes in the South Caucasus and the economic benefits of the initiative, Yegoyan said the process is advantageous to both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“If it were not beneficial, the document would not have been signed. The unblocking of the region under the conditions outlined in the signed documents is naturally beneficial to both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Otherwise, their signatures would not be there. It is very positive that the sides’ positions coincide regarding the unblocking process under those conditions,” Yegoyan said.

In an interview with Azerbaijani television in Nakhichevan on August 11, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev described the creation of what he called the “Zangezur Corridor” as an Azerbaijani initiative and referred to connecting mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan as a “long-standing dream.”

However, in the joint statement issued by the United States, Armenia and Azerbaijan on August 10, the project is referred to as TRIPP.