January 13, 2023 - 10:56 AMT
Armenia says will never provide extraterritorial corridor to Azerbaijan

Armenia will never agree to the provision of an extraterritorial corridor to Azerbaijan, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahan Hunanyan told Armenpress on Thursday, January 12.

Hunanyan’s comments came in response to remarks from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev who, while admitting that there is no mention of corridor in trilateral statements, threatened that "the corridor will be there, regardless of whether Armenia agrees to it or not."

“Armenia has repeatedly stated about being interested in the opening of all transport and economic infrastructures in the region in line with the November 9 Statement. We are ready to promptly implement this within the framework of the national legislation, within the frames of the agreements reached on maintaining the sovereignty of the countries and jurisdiction over the roads. At the same time, Armenia will never agree to the provision of an extraterritorial corridor,” the spokesperson said.

“It is welcomed that the leadership of Azerbaijan finally frankly stated that the claims made about the so-called corridor have nothing to do with the Trilateral Statement of November 9. The Statement mentions only one - the Lachin Corridor, which has been illegally blocked by Azerbaijan for more than a month.”

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.