Negotiations Could Have Happened on This Issue, But the Price Would Have Been Corridor Logic - Pashinyan

During the regular session of the Armenian government today, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan recalled that in August of this year, Azerbaijan imposed customs regulations on Iranian trucks on its part of the Goris-Kapan highway.

“Yesterday we received an unofficial notification from Azerbaijan that starting from the night of November 11, they plan to implement customs and passport control for Armenian citizens and cargo as well. After receiving the notification, we decided to direct the citizens traveling through that section to the Kapan-Agavni-Tatev-Halidzor-Shinuhayr M2 highway,” Pashinyan stated.

Pashinyan informed that the Tatev-Agavni road has been asphalted and put into operation last week. “Last Thursday, I traveled to Kapan and returned using that road. I can attest that we have received a quality road,” he noted.

According to the Prime Minister, while going to and returning from Kapan, he saw several dozen trucks with trailers, including Iranian ones, on that route. “Yesterday, until midnight and after, around 100 trucks with trailers passed through the Kapan-Tatev section,” the Prime Minister said.

Pashinyan emphasized that the travel time to Kapan via the new route does not increase; it rather decreases, considering the quality of the road.

Nikol Pashinyan stressed that the Azerbaijani checkpoint is not located on Armenian territory. “It concerns the Ayvazli area. Now a question may arise: could negotiations have been held on this issue? Yes, they could have, but the price would have been the corridor logic, which is unacceptable for us,” he added.

The head of government reiterated that they have never discussed and will not discuss any corridor logic, as noted in the trilateral format of deputy prime ministers.