The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, declared that from today onwards, Armenia is ready to ensure the transit of cargo trucks from Turkey to Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan to Turkey via the Margara-Yegegnadzor-Sisyan-Gorus route.
How acceptable is the route proposed by Armenia for Azerbaijan and Turkey? Is it expected that Azerbaijan and Turkey will accept this proposal?
Speaking to Medianews.az on the subject, security expert Ilham Ismayil recalled that on August 8 in Washington, Azerbaijan and Armenia initialed a draft agreement on peace and establishment of interstate relations: "Until the agreement is officially signed, building trust between the two states is one of the very important issues. This issue is being implemented in various directions. Already this month, there was a meeting of public representatives from Azerbaijan and Armenia in Yerevan.
The opening of transport infrastructure is important for both countries. As you know, on August 8, the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia signed a Joint Declaration in Washington in the presence of the US President. The declaration also agreed on the creation of a corridor through Armenia connecting the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. In other words, we are talking about the Zangezur corridor. The declaration named it "Trump's International Peace and Prosperity Route" (TRIPP). The project will be implemented under US patronage. Until the "Trump route" is opened, activating other transport infrastructures can be considered a condition for building trust between the two states. If you notice, in Pashinyan's statement, at this initial stage only transports from Turkey to Azerbaijan and back - from Azerbaijan to Turkey - were mentioned. This implies that, in the initial phase, it is only about the movement of Turkish cargo trucks, i.e., TIRs. In the future, after trust is established, the movement of Azerbaijani vehicles through Armenia to Turkey and back, including cargo transportation, will take place. Naturally, after that, the issue of opening the border and the land route between Armenia and Turkey will be resolved rapidly."
I. Ismayil emphasized that once the roads between Turkey and Armenia are opened, Armenia's economic dependence on Russia will weaken: "This is also one of the very important points. Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia next summer. Considering the need to withstand Russia's economic pressure ahead of the elections, the rapid opening of the Turkey-Armenia border is of critical importance for the Pashinyan government."
In his statement, I. Ismayil also touched upon N. Pashinyan’s exposure of the Armenian Church. He said that the Armenian Church has always been at the forefront of hostility against the Turkic world, including Azerbaijan: "The myth of Armenians supposedly having vast territories from sea to sea is also an invention of the Church. The Armenian Church is guilty of many sins. Nikol Pashinyan knows well what these sins of the current priests consist of. The Prime Minister has facts and evidence in his hands. Therefore, the resistance power of the leader of the Armenian Gregorian Church, II Garegin, has also weakened. In any case, there are great hopes that the policy Pashinyan pursues today will save the Armenian community from illusions and Turkic hostility that have lasted for centuries. Pashinyan has put forward the 'Real Armenia' project. Armenians should evaluate this. Undoubtedly, this new ideological and political line is one of the factors leading to improving and normalizing relations with Azerbaijan."
Nailə Qasımova,
Medianews.az
