Aliyev accused the Armenian government on Tuesday of not complying with a relevant provision of a Russian-brokered ceasefire agreement that stopped the 2020 Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The clause commits Armenia to opening rail and road links between Azerbaijan and its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province.
Yerevan maintains that it does not call for an extraterritorial corridor that would exempt people and cargo transported to and from Nakhichevan from Armenian border checks. Its Crossroads of Peace project regularly promoted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian stipulates that the two South Caucasus states should have full control of transport infrastructure inside each other’s territory. Aliyev shrugged off the project, saying that it is “not worth a penny.”
Mirzoyan defended the project when he commented on Aliyev’s demands after talks held in Yerevan with Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maka Bochorishvili.
“I will not say anything new: our position remains in force,” he told a joint news conference.
Mirzoyan reiterated the Armenian side’s readiness to agree to put in place “some simplified procedures” for Armenian-Azerbaijani border crossings and cargo transit. He also said that Yerevan still hopes for Baku’s “positive reaction” to an unpublicized Armenian proposal on the issue made last fall.
Aliyev threatened to use force to open the “Zangezur corridor” in televised remarks aired on January 7. He also repeated his multiple preconditions for a peace treaty with Armenia.
Mirzoyan said on Tuesday that Pashinian’s administration remains committed to its “peace agenda” which is dismissed by its domestic critics concerned about what they see as a growing risk of another Azerbaijani attack on Armenia.
“This applies to both the peace treaty, the unblocking of transport infrastructure and the border delimitation,” said the Armenian minister.
“Let's hope that the peace treaty between Armenia and Azerbaijan will be concluded with mutually beneficial provisions,” Bochorishvili said for her part. “Only this can become the basis for peace in the region.”