VIDEO: "Comparison of the Lachin Corridor to Road Opening Through RA Territory is Unacceptable" - Pashinyan

Azerbaijan distorts the 9th point of the trilateral statement of November 9, which is about restoring all transport and economic connections in the region and launching a road that connects Azerbaijan's western regions to Nakhchivan. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a government meeting.

“You are aware that Armenia has presented comprehensive proposals on this issue. Without going into details, I will say that the essence of our proposal is as follows: to reconstruct the Yeraskh-Julfa-Orboud-Meghri-Horadiz railway, reopen or construct a roadway that will also connect Azerbaijan's western regions with Nakhchivan, implementing border, customs, and other controls at border crossing points,” said Pashinyan.

According to Pashinyan, Azerbaijan both accepts and does not accept this position of ours. This is expressed in the following way: they say that they agree to the implementation of this road under any legal regime, but the same regime should also apply to the Lachin Corridor, and to justify this position, they reference the November 9 statement.

“This rhetoric is unfounded for two reasons. First, there is no mention in the November 9 statement of any territory of the Republic of Armenia or corridors related to it, but there is a mention of the 'Lachin Corridor'. The Lachin Corridor is not just a road; it is also an area that is 5 kilometers wide. This entire area, according to the trilateral statement, is under the control of the Russian peacekeeping forces. There is simply no provision in paragraph 9 of the trilateral statement that would allow for the control of any part of the territory of Armenia by another country. And then, the parallels between Nagorno-Karabakh and Nakhchivan are strange for several reasons. Firstly, Nakhchivan has a land connection with Azerbaijan via the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey. It has air connections through the airspace of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey, and the Republic of Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh has only a land connection with Armenia, and only through the Lachin Corridor, and making the Lachin Corridor an area controlled in any way by Azerbaijan means only one thing: the depopulation of Nagorno-Karabakh,” emphasized Pashinyan.

The Prime Minister reiterated that the comparison of the Lachin Corridor to the road that will be opened through the territory of the Republic of Armenia is unacceptable, the November 9 statement does not provide for the existence of any corridor through the territory of the Republic of Armenia, and Armenia has not accepted and will not accept any corridor-related logic.