In January 2021 trilateral meeting of Russian, Azerbaijani and Armenian leaders, Russian President
Vladimir Putin emphasized the issue of opening economic, commercial and transportation links and borders, announcing that a joint working group under the chairmanship of the deputy prime ministers of these countries is formed to work on it. In February 2021, a dispute arose around a clause in the
2020 Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement that provided for unblocking all economic and transport connections in the region, including that between the western regions of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. Azerbaijani President
Ilham Aliyev declared that the ceasefire agreement contained a special provision on the establishment of a so-called "Nakhichevan corridor". The Armenian government and Armenian opposition parties rejected this claim emphasizing that the ceasefire agreement did not contain any provisions for establishing such "corridor". In April 2021, Aliyev announced that Azerbaijani people would return to what he described as "West Zangezur" and Azerbaijan's "historic lands" within the borders of Armenia, but that Azerbaijan does not have territorial claims to any foreign country. The Armenian foreign ministry responded that the country would "take all necessary measures to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity." In May 2021, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that while Armenia is not willing to discuss 'corridor logic', it is keen on opening transport links as means of direct railway communication with Iran and Russia. The dispute has been cited as one of the reasons for the
2021 Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis. A new round of trilateral talks began on 20 October 2021. A day earlier, Armenian Deputy Prime Minister
Mher Grigoryan said that progress was made toward the railway connections dating from the Soviet period being restored. On 9 November 2021, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and the co-chair of the trilateral task force dealing with cross-border connections Alexei Overchuk said that "Armenia and Azerbaijan will retain sovereignty over roads passing through their territory". The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed this, commenting on the media speculation about the "so-called Zangezur corridor". The chairman of Azerbaijan's Center of Analysis of International Relations Farid Shafiyev said that if Armenia does not want to say "corridor", then an alternative term can be used, but insisted that unimpeded access for unimpeded movement to Nakhchivan must be given without any Armenian checkpoints, with the security of transport links provided only by the Russian border guards. According to Anar Valiyev, the dean of the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, “What Azerbaijan wants is no checkpoints, not to have to stop at the border...We are in a situation where we have leverage, we have time and we can dictate terms.”
As a pan-Turkic agenda Azeri President
Aliyev has said multiple times that the corridor will "unite the whole Turkic world." with numerous sources stating that this ambition was a driving factor behind the
Armenian Genocide, as the Armenian population stood geographically in the way.
Genocide Watch characterizes the corridor as a pan-Turkic project which "will cost thousands of Armenian lives." The
Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has criticized the international community for not adequately addressing the situation and has stated that the seizure of Armenia's Syunik region would "realize the pan-Turkic dream that fueled the
Armenian Genocide" adding that Azerbaijan's "actions extend far beyond mere
territorial disputes, touching upon the very existence of Armenia and Armenians in what is left of their
ancestral homeland." Ahmad Kazemi, academic on Eurasian issues, asserts that Azerbaijan is using the pretext of creating connectivity in the region to establish "the so-called pan-Turkic illusionary Zangezur corridor" which he argues is "not compatible with any of the present geopolitical and historical realities of the region." Since the end of the
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Azerbaijan has increasingly promoted expansionist and irredentist claims to Armenian territory. These include referring to Armenia as "
Western Azerbaijan." Additionally, in 2022 pro-government media and Azerbaijani officials briefly promoted the irredentist concept of the “Goycha-Zangazur Republic” which claims all of southern Armenia. Azerbaijani parliamentarian Hikmat Babaoghlu criticized the idea, stating that it weakens Azerbaijan's public case to create the Zangezur corridor.
As a solution to the blockade Rather than building a transport route between Azerbaijan and its exclave Nakhchivan in isolation, Armenia has instead called for multiple routes to be opened simultaneously, that directly connect it to both Turkey and Azerbaijan, thereby ending the ongoing mutual blockade that has existed since 1989. In the opinion of
Thomas de Waal, a former journalist and a senior fellow with
Carnegie Europe, "The economic benefits of the opening of closed transport routes in the South Caucasus, including as set out in the November 2020 ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan, could extend to all the countries of the region as well as to Russia, Turkey, and Iran. But the politics remains difficult within the region and between its neighbouring powers, with trust in short supply." According to de Waal, "Security concerns also haunt plans to reopen the crucial transport route across southern Armenia to and from Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhchivan. Azerbaijan and Turkey are already connected by road through the
Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway across Georgia. A new route via southern Armenia would have the important result of de-isolating Nakhchivan and lifting its economy. Beyond that, this route would acquire more significance only if traffic across it is subjected to minimal checks and controls; Armenia for its part insists that it does not want a "corridor" across its territory over which it has no control, and it is supported in this stance by Iran." According to Stephen Blank, Senior Fellow at Foreign Policy Research Institute's Eurasia Program, the Zangezur Corridor stands out as the optimal way to bypass Russia's "blockade of global supply routes"; Armenia's acceptance would also re-affirm its commitment to partnership with the West.
Russian interests The international relations scholars Javad Heiran-Nia and Mahmood Monshipouri opine that Russia aims to solidify access to the markets of the
Middle East through the supposed Zangezur corridor. According to Heiran-Nia and Monshipouri, this would complement Russia's goal of dominating the communication routes that stretch from
Dagestan to Zangezur, and also from the border where Nakhchivan and Armenia meet, to
Armenia's border with Turkey. In the opinion of Heiran-Nia and Monshipouri, Russia would thereby benefit as much as Azerbaijan and Turkey if the Zangezur corridor were to be implemented. The implementation of the Zangezur corridor would be thus part of Moscow's long-term plans aimed at securing favorable alliances that guarantee its influence in the region, to set up vassal or puppet states that are key to conserving Russian long-term interests, and to solidify its influence over territory outside the reach of a potential NATO incursion.
International reaction • European Union — A joint statement by the
European Parliament DSCA Chair
Marina Kaljurand and Standing Rapporteurs on Armenia,
Andrey Kovatchev, and Azerbaijan,
Željana Zovko, among other things, condemned the statements made by the Azerbaijani side: "To de-escalate the situation, it is of utmost importance that inflammatory rhetoric ceases immediately. In this context, we condemn in particular recent statements by Azerbaijani representatives regarding so-called 'West Zangezur' and referring to the territory of the Republic of Armenia as Azerbaijani 'ancestral land'. Such statements are highly irresponsible and threaten to undermine regional security further." On 31 May 2022, Barend Leyts, the spokesperson for the
European Council President
Charles Michel wrote that "connectivity was specifically discussed in Brussels on 22 May to advance opportunities for unblocking the region. In this context, both parties confirmed there were no extraterritorial claims with regard to future transport infrastructure. Speculation to the contrary is regrettable." This statement came a week after Ilham Aliyev's statement about "Zangezur Corridor" where he made references to Charles Michel's announcement post trilateral meeting with Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents. • France — The Ambassador to Armenia
Jonathan Lacôte objected to the use of "corridor" expression, because in his opinion the "corridors" have left a very bad memory in the history of diplomacy, such as the Polish
Danzig Corridor, which was central to
Nazi policy and served as a pretext to
World War II. • Turkey — The
Shusha Declaration signed by presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey on 15 June 2021 included a passage on the "Zangezur corridor", and both Aliyev and Erdogan stressed the importance of its implementation in the following joint press conference. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia condemned their joint visit to Shusha, calling it a provocation. • Russia — Vice prime minister Overchuk attested in September 2021 that the trilateral group, which Russia is part of, discusses unblocking regional communications but not creating a "corridor". In 2024, Russia backed the Zangezur corridor plan. •
Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention — issued a "red flag" genocide alert on Azerbaijan: "Observers should expect any genocide against Armenians in Artsakh to be accompanied or followed by aggressions against Armenia proper, particularly the southern Syunik region where Azerbaijan and Turkey would like to build a "Zangezur corridor" linking the two countries and excluding Armenians. This corridor would cut Armenia off from its southern border, further weakening its geopolitical position and rendering it even more vulnerable to attacks from its hostile neighbors." The group also said the corridor is "illegal" and "would effectively constitute an occupation of Armenian land" ==Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (2025)==