Global Courant 2023-05-25 22:48:00
ISTANBUL
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev denied on Thursday that Baku has any territorial claims against Yerevan, following allegations made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Moscow.
“I would like to say that we do not have such a (territorial) claim (on Armenia)… As for the word ‘corridor’ I used, I used the same for the North-South corridor. Likewise, this word is also used for the East-West corridor, the word ‘corridor’ is in no way an encroachment on one’s land, it is an international term.
After his opening speech at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, Pashinyan claimed that Aliyev’s statements regarding the start of Baku’s creation of the Zangezur corridor were “a statement” used to assert territorial claims against Armenia.
The Zangezur region was part of Azerbaijan, but the Soviets gave it to Armenia in the 1920s, depriving Azerbaijan of a direct land route to Nakhchivan.
After a 44-day conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in September 2020, Baku liberated numerous cities, villages and settlements in Karabakh from Armenian occupation, resulting in a Moscow-mediated ceasefire.
Since then, Azerbaijan has focused on planned connections, including highways and a 43-kilometer (26.7-mile) railway that runs through the corridor.
Aliyev also denied Pashinyan’s claims that Azerbaijan blocked the flow of transportation on the Lachin road, which is the only road connecting Armenia to the Karabakh region, and said that the road is open and “using this meeting for baseless accusations” is not correct.
“A border gate was created on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. There is a checkpoint belonging to the Russian forces 20 meters away from this border gate. Aliyev said that Azerbaijani citizens of Armenian origin living in Karabakh can go to Armenia from here without any obstacles.
Last month, Azerbaijan announced that it had established a border crossing at the starting point of the Lachin-Khankendi road, arguing that Armenia is using the highway to illegally transport military weapons and equipment to the region.
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