Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan has commented on the statements of Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who recently again preconditioned the normalization of relations between his country and Armenia with Yerevan’s acceptance of a land corridor connecting Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan.

According to Pashinyan, the statement of the Turkish President must be considered point by point.

Armenia, he said, has never given any reason to either Turkey or Azerbaijan to use terminology (corridor – Ed.) for which there have been no promises.

“In Armenia, this is perceived as territorial claims and a demand for an extraterritorial corridor. We have not made promises to anyone, according to this terminology. There is no such thing in the trilateral statement,” Pashinyan said in an interview with the Public TV, citing the trilateral statement of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia signed in November 2020 to end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

He noted that the word “corridor” is used in the world as a term for communication routes. The trilateral statement mentioned the Lachin corridor, which was controlled by a third party.

"We say that the Republic of Armenia is ready and interested in opening regional communications,” Pashinyan said.

“Are we ready to open our roads to Azerbaijan and Turkey? Yes, we are. This should happen under the jurisdiction of Armenia on the principles of equality and reciprocity. No third force should control the territories of Armenia, when crossing the border, control should be carried out by the customs and border services of Armenia.”

Azerbaijan and Turkey have on multiple occasions raised the question about the Zangezur "corridor" through the southern Armenian province of Syunik that would connect Nakhijevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. The Armenian side, however, has repeatedly denied being involved in negotiations for the provision of a corridor to Azerbaijan, stressing that they have only agreed to unblock transport communications in the region.