Zangezur Corridor issue aggravates military threat to Armenia

By demanding from Armenia to open the Zangezur Corridor, Azerbaijani President, Ilham Aliev, has secured the support of the international community; therefore, his threats to solve the problem by force are quite real, the Azeri analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" believe. Baku is using the corridor issue as a lever of pressure on Armenia, and the country is vulnerable to it, political analysts in Yerevan have noted.

In the opinion of Mekhman Aliev, the director of the "Turan" News Agency, the statements by the head of Azerbaijan have real ground.

"If his position had no international support, he wouldn't say such things with confidence," he told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

In his opinion, on this issue, the international community shares the Azerbaijan's position that considers it necessary to restore communications, cooperation and border delimitation, which should bring lasting peace to the region.

Armenia's position in protracting with the opening of transport communications is also weak from the viewpoint of international practice. If Armenia continues blocking the opening of the Zangezur Corridor, then Baku can impose control over the Lachin Corridor, Mekhman Aliev has suggested.

Azerbaijan sticks to the policy of preserving the pretext for aggressive and forceful pressure on Armenia, Andrias Gukasyan, a political analyst, believes. "There are no political and legal grounds for providing the corridor. Azerbaijan is trying to impose the doctrine of territorial exchange in the issue of Armenia's land communication with Artsakh," Mr Gukasyan told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, adding that in its foreign policy, Armenia is deprived of the opportunity to rely on the support of the West, since it is a Russia's ally.

The Armenian society lives under the permanent pressure of these (Azerbaijan's) statements, the political analyst has noted. "The authorities and the parliamentary opposition are inclined to implement the November 9, 2020, trilateral agreement; it is also supported by the majority of the extra-parliamentary forces," Andrias Gukasyan has concluded.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 9, 2021 at 02:50 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.