Zangezur corridor will not limit Armenia's ties with Iran – Hikmet Hajiyev

Baku/05.01.24/Turan: There is a historic opportunity to conclude a peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan,  Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev  said in his interview the German edition of Berliner Zeitung. Summing up the results of the past year, he said that Azerbaijan and Armenia are able to conduct direct bilateral negotiations without intermediaries and the parties can sign a peace treaty.

"At present, we do not see any serious obstacles to concluding a peace treaty. On the contrary, this is the quietest period in relations between the two countries in the last 30 years. The recent meeting between the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia in St. Petersburg was also positive. However, it is difficult to talk about a specific schedule. Further negotiations are needed to complete the process."

Are both countries ready to conclude a peace agreement without demarcating the border and resolving the fate of the Zangezur corridor?  Hajiyev replied that "the peace treaty should not be held hostage to the demarcation of the border."

 Negotiations on a peace treaty, the drawing and demarcation of borders are taking place simultaneously, but in two different formats. In November, the two sides agreed to regulate the work of the joint commission on border demarcation and border security.  On December 6, President Aliyev called for "easy access" from Azerbaijan to the Nakhchivan exclave. There should be no "checks and interventions". This is a legitimate right of Azerbaijan and in a trilateral statement on November 10, 2020, Armenia pledged to ensure unhindered transport links between both parts of Azerbaijan, Hajiyev said.

"We do not intend to wait until the Armenian side is ready to fulfill its obligations, and we will use every opportunity to diversify our communication routes," he said. "This is a commitment signed by Armenia. However, it should be clear that the waiver of customs and border control applies only to goods transported from one part of Azerbaijan to another, and not to goods destined for third countries," Hajiyev continued. He also gave a negative assessment to the transport project "Crossroads of the World".

"Armenia is trying to distract from the obligations of the Trilateral Declaration. The goal is to create the impression that Armenia is passionately committed to opening up the region. In fact, it is Armenia that prevents this discovery," Hajiyev believes. “Although Armenia declares its desire to restore railway communication, it rejects the construction of a parallel highway. Instead, we are offered a long, inconvenient and inclement northern route."

"We do not consider the connection through the territory of Armenia as a threat to either the sovereignty of Armenia or the Armenian-Iranian relations. Transport links from Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan – through the extreme south of Armenia – will not affect the trade route between Armenia and Iran. The two routes intersect without blocking each other. If there is political will, it is always possible to find acceptable conditions. There is nothing scary about the word "corridor": it is used all over the world in connection with traffic routes. Similarly, this transport connection does not deprive Armenia of the border with Iran. And at the same time, he will not divide Armenia into two parts. Such insinuations are the result of a large-scale smear campaign in some Western media," Hikmet Hajiyev said. -0-