Aliyev again prompts Armenian criticism for use of term ‘Zangezur corridor’
During the 12th summit of the Organisation of Turkic States, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev again used the term ‘Zangezur corridor’ to refer to the Trump Route, a plan to connect Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan through Armenia. The term was also featured in the summit’s declaration, prompting criticism from Yerevan.
Aliyev made the remarks during the summit held in Gabala, northern Azerbaijan, on Tuesday, while speaking about Azerbaijan’s role in international transit projects.
‘In this context, one of the key outcomes of the Washington summit was the opening of the Zangezur corridor. This corridor is significant as a new transport artery and serves as a second route within both the Middle Corridor and the North-South Corridor’, he said.
The Washington summit of early August saw Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and US President Donald Trump initial the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace treaty and announce plans for the establishment of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP).
Despite having agreed to the name of the route, Aliyev and other Azerbaijani officials have continued to use the term ‘Zangezur corridor’ instead, sparking repeated criticism from Armenian authorities who insist that the term contains territorial claims against Armenia.
The term is considered problematic for its reference to Armenia’s Syunik region as ‘west Zangezur’.
On Tuesday, the term was also used by the Secretary General of the organisation, Kubanychbek Omuraliev, who said: ‘The opening of the Zangezur Corridor, alongside the revival of the ancient Silk Road, will create new economic and transit opportunities for our countries’.
The route was referenced twice in the summit’s declaration adopted on the same day.
The first reference was indirect, with the organisation welcoming the results of the Washington summit and agreements reached regarding the opening of transit links.
The second featured the use of the term ‘Zangezur corridor’, with the organisation expressing support to efforts by member states to ‘operationalise and to develop’ the route.
The use of the term was swiftly criticised by Yerevan, with Pashinyan’s spokesperson, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, stressing that the ‘narrative presented by the President of Azerbaijan cannot in any way pertain to the territory of the Republic of Armenia’.
‘Only the TRIPP and Crossroads of Peace projects are being implemented within the Republic of Armenia, as clearly stipulated in a number of international documents’, Baghdasaryan said.
Founded in 2009, the Organisation of Turkic States is an international organisation bringing together Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan.
Hungary, which is not a Turkic nation, has been an observer in the organisation since 2018.
Nate Ostiller
