Azerbaijan's Aliyev revives the Zangezur corridor as a focus of the peace process discussions.
UPDATE ON ZANGEZUR CORRIDOR DISPUTE BETWEEN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN
Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijani leader, has rekindled tension in the South Caucasus by resurrecting a demand for extraterritorial rights on a land corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave across Armenian territory. Some experts in Baku predict that the issue can be managed.
During an early January interview with local journalists, Aliyev appeared to throw a diplomatic bombshell into the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace process by repeatedly referring to Armenia as "fascist" and reigniting the Zangezur corridor dispute. Analysts had previously observed signs that a peace deal was near before Aliyev's unexpected remarks.
In August of last year, Armenian and Azerbaijani officials had agreed to set aside the Zangezur issue, noting that both countries would first finalize a peace agreement, then return to the corridor matter. For Armenia, the issue posed a problem due to the country's reluctance to surrender sovereignty over the land route connecting two Azerbaijani territories. Additionally, Armenia was leery of allowing Russia to act as a guarantor of stability along the corridor.
The relationship between Armenia and Russia has deteriorated since Azerbaijan delivered a decisive defeat to Armenia in the Second Karabakh War, which ended in late 2023. Many Armenians believe Russia betrayed their country by failing to honor treaty obligations to protect Armenian sovereignty. A 2020 agreement had enshrined a Russian peacekeeping role over the Zangezur corridor, but the August bilateral decision to defer the issue effectively froze Moscow out of any future presence.
Russian officials initially expressed bitter frustration over the Armenian-Azerbaijani move to defer Zangezur but eventually backed off after Iran forcefully supported postponing the corridor issue.
In recent months, as Armenian-Russian relations have continued to falter, reducing the Russian presence in Armenia has taken on increased importance for Yerevan. According to independent analyst Shujaat Ahmadzade, Azerbaijan is equally uneasy with Russian control of the Zangezur corridor. Baku is content to leave Armenia as the main source of resistance because the issue is "more of an Armenian-Russian dispute."
Aliyev's early January interview served as a reminder to Armenia that while Zangezur may have been deferred, it would not be forgotten by Baku. However, Ahmadzade indicated that there is potential flexibility in Azerbaijan's approach on the issue. From Baku's perspective, Zangezur is linked to the broader issue of expanding regional trade networks, particularly the expansion of East-West trade via the Middle Corridor route, including the reopening of a railway with Georgia and an ambitious plan with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to export electricity.
Ahmadzade believes Azerbaijan is seeking to unblock all bilateral connectivity routes. Regarding Zangezur, Azerbaijan is not insisting on Armenia sacrificing complete sovereignty over the corridor; instead, Baku's bottom line is it wants Azerbaijani vehicles traveling on the corridor between the mainland and Nakhchivan to move freely without any inspections. "I think this is where Armenia is resisting," he said.
- Politics and policy-and-legislation related discussions surrounding the travel of goods and vehicles along the Zangezur corridor, a contested land route between Armenia and Azerbaijan, are expected to be part of the general news due to the ongoing dispute and recent statements by Ilham Aliyev.
- The Zangezur corridor dispute, along with war-and-conflicts history, politics, and policy-and-legislation, is also linked to the future of regional trade networks, particularly the expansion of East-West trade via the Middle Corridor route, which includes the reopening of a railway with Georgia and an ambitious plan with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan to export electricity.
