It is not excluded that Turkey and Azerbaijan will try to take the "Zangezur Corridor" by military means. Turkologist

In Turkey, they are again talking about the "Zangezur Corridor" and setting dates for its completion. Turkish Minister of Transport Abdulkadir Uraloglu announced yesterday that the construction of "Zangezur Transport Corridor" is planned to be completed in 2028. He noted that 43 km of the "Zangezur Corridor" connecting Turkey with other Turkic countries by land passes through the territory of Armenia.

"Detq" asked Mher Abrahamyan, PhD, Turkologist, why Turkish circles started talking again about getting a corridor through the territory of Armenia, when Azerbaijan seems to be silent, continuing the negotiations on the "peace treaty" with Armenia.

Our interlocutor first mentioned that Turkey has never stopped talking about the "Zangezur Corridor", and starting from their president to various small and large officials, they have always announced their intention to open the corridor and connect with the Turkic world through it, then added: "Azerbaijan seems to be playing a certain diplomatic game at the moment, but various Turkish officials, even ministers, announced the need to open the "Zangezur Corridor" last year. Currently, discussions on the topic have become active again. We see that, for example, Iran made a statement that there could be transit roads, but never a corridor. In other words, this topic is topical, and Turkey and Azerbaijan can and possibly try to take this issue militarily. It is also not excluded."

The Turkish expert expressed the opinion that the corridor built by the Turks is not beneficial to the West, Russia, or Iran.

"The latter are interested in the non-existence of such a corridor, because it violates their dominance in the region, and if Turkey suddenly gets a way to the Central Asian states in the form of a corridor, then Iran's path will be cut here, and Turkey will appear in the southern rear of Russia with much deeper roots. And this reality is not beneficial to the West, because it will violate all slogans, international laws and conventions created in the West, will contradict the sovereignty of states, state borders, etc. Therefore, the West also tries to prevent that reality," he said.

To our question, considering the Turkish-Azerbaijani ambitions towards the sovereign territories of the Republic of Armenia, to what extent it is expedient to build foreign diplomacy around the "peace" agenda, Mher Abrahamyan answered. "The year has just begun, but various terrorist attacks have already taken place. When we see the situation in the world today, we come to the conclusion that to talk about peace and the "intersection of peace" today is, in my opinion, a wrong diplomatic direction, because the states with which we are trying to achieve peace are completely involved in various war realities. especially Turkey. I do not think that Turkey and Azerbaijan are inclined to reach peace with Armenia. On the other hand, we have lost a part of our homeland, and after that to talk about peace or making a neighborhood, when an entire nation was deprived of its homeland, I think it is very wrong."

We asked our interlocutor what developments to expect in 2024, considering that it is an election year in a number of states. The Turkologist mentioned: "Today's world politics is moving so fast and so many unexpected actions are taking place that it is difficult to make any predictions. However, I think we will witness various reverses. As you already mentioned, it is an election year, there will be elections in Russia, the USA, and Azerbaijan, and Turkey is also preparing for the Istanbul elections, which is also an important event, therefore, I think, there will be various reverses. ".