After a six-week-long war in autumn 2020, deadly clashes have persisted between Azerbaijan and Armenia. During this time, Azerbaijan has managed to liberate some areas of land which were previously occupied by Armenia. After the war, the Zangezur Corridor came into agenda.

The Zangezur Corridor is a region of strategic importance situated in the southern part of the South Caucasus. This corridor serves as a vital bridge. It is on the middle point between Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave. The corridor’s importance for Turkey and Azerbaijan is high. Its geopolitical significance lies in its role as a land bridge, enabling a connection among Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Throughout history, the Zangezur Corridor has remained a focal point of dispute owing to its geographical importance and the intricate interplay of ethnic and political factors in the region. Struggles among the Ottoman Empire, Russian Empire and Iran occurred around this area. The corridor garnered significant attention during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a disagreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan concerning the Nagorno-Karabakh area and its neighboring lands. This corridor offered Armenia a direct and efficient land route to connect Iran because the country’s eastern and western borders were closed after the embargo by Turkey and Azerbaijan from the beginning of the 1990s as a reaction to the Armenian occupation in Nagorno-Karabakh. 

Today, Azerbaijan is actively preparing Nakhchivan, the country’s exclave, for the opening of the “Zangezur Corridor,” which Azerbaijan has proposed to Armenia in ongoing peace negotiations. 

The corridor provides many opportunities for Turkey to increase its influence in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea regions. Turkey’s connection with Central Asia is also another crucial point in the long-term expectations. Turkey has already started many projects to contribute the emergence of the Zangezur Corridor for geopolitical purposes. The country didn’t lose time to announce railway and energy pipeline projects passing through Nakhchivan. 

Armenia has officially agreed to guarantee the opening of a corridor through its territory to facilitate Azerbaijani transportation of goods to Nakhchivan. The ceasefire agreement’s Article 9 states: “All economic and transport connections in the region shall be unblocked. The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions.”

But today, the Armenian government demonstrates dissatisfaction with the ongoing process by blaming Azerbaijan of having “hidden agenda.” Despite mediation efforts by the European Union, United States, and Russia, peace talks have made minimal progress. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that without a signed and ratified peace treaty between the two countries, the likelihood of opening this corridor is low. To decrease the tension, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has emphasized that his country is ready to embrace all Armenians and encourage them to enjoy the planned regional economic integration.

Aliyev is trying to show that it is possible to realize the regional integration that has not been achieved since the collapse of the Soviet Union. His approach is full of theoretically and practically supportable examples. For example, starting from the term of former Azerbaijani President Heydar Aliyev, the first step towards regional integration was taken with the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey trio. Accordingly, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway line projects were realized. In addition, these projects set an example to the world by establishing very strong economic, military and energy relations between the three countries.

However, the absence of Armenia in this initiative prevented the establishment of a holistic regional integration. Therefore, today, the aspirations for the establishment of the Zangezur Corridor are based on the desire to create a prosperous region, including Armenia.

Despite all these, Azerbaijan, and Turkey state that the corridor, which Azerbaijan and Turkey have announced as an initiative that will benefit all countries in the region, will make great contributions to the region in logistics, commercial and political fields. The only thing left to do is to contribute to ensure the speedy completion of this project.

Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu