Azernews.Az

Ulviyya Poladova

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Azerbaijan’s long-discussed Zangezur Corridor appears to be entering a new phase, shifting from a prolonged political dispute into a concrete infrastructure project with wider regional ambitions. In an interview with Azerbaijan Television in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev presented the corridor not simply as a transport link between mainland Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, but as a strategic component of the country’s emerging role in Eurasian trade.

As it was mentioned, the corridor is not a new diplomatic idea born from post-war negotiations. It is the realization of a long-standing national objective where it is necessary to establish uninterrupted communication between mainland Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.

For Baku, however, the importance of the agreement has never been limited to its historical context. The corridor has increasingly become part of Azerbaijan’s broader transport strategy. The political debate is now mainly focused on the significance of the corridor and the conditions in which it should function.

Recalling the trilateral statement signed after the end of the Second Karabakh War, President Ilham Aliyev noted that the document provided for a corridor connecting the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. At the same time, he stated that no practical steps had been taken to open the Zangezur corridor for five years after the end of the war. Throughout this period, Azerbaijan has repeatedly noted that the relevant provision was not being implemented, while Armenia resisted what Baku called the opening of the corridor. Russia, which had been involved in the post-war arrangement, also failed to produce the practical result Azerbaijan expected. The consequence was that the original mechanism became increasingly ineffective.

It all helps to understand why the involvement of the United States became so important from Baku’s perspective. President Aliyev presents Washington’s engagement as the factor that helped break the deadlock and eventually produced the framework associated with TRIPP.

If Azerbaijan waited for every part of the route to be agreed upon before building its own infrastructure, additional delays could become unavoidable. By completing the sections under its control, Baku is effectively reducing the amount of time required between a political agreement and actual commercial operations.

The strategy also gives Azerbaijan greater leverage. Once roads and railways are completed on the Azerbaijani side, the remaining missing links become much more visible. The question shifts from whether Azerbaijan is prepared to build its section to whether the other participants are prepared to connect to it.

The 194-kilometer length of the railway may be significant, but İlham Aliyev’s 15-million-ton annual capacity target is arguably more revealing of the project’s ambitions. A railway designed merely to restore a local connection would not require such a large capacity. The target indicates that Azerbaijan expects the route to carry substantial international transit traffic. The corridor is therefore being designed with the assumption that it will serve third-country trade, not simply Azerbaijani domestic transportation. This changes the economic calculation. A high-capacity railway requires predictable cargo flows and connections with other rail systems. Infrastructure alone cannot guarantee success. The corridor must attract shippers who have alternatives, including existing routes through Georgia, Türkiye, Iran and Russia. Azerbaijan therefore faces a second challenge after construction: making the route commercially attractive enough to fill it.

"Upon entering Nakhchivan through the Zangezur Corridor, there is a railway connection to Iran from the Julfa railway hub. So, this project could be realized even sooner. The North-South Transport Corridor extends toward the Persian Gulf. From there, it can extend to regions further afield, for instance, Pakistan. In short, this will be a crucial transport project, and Nakhchivan will stand at its center," the head of state stressed.

If we look closely at the situation, it becomes clear that the Zangezur route would connect with the East-West Corridor, potentially strengthening links between China and Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Türkiye. At the same time, its connection through Nakhchivan to Iran could give it a role in the North-South Corridor. İt creates a potentially valuable intersection.

Instead of treating the Zangezur Corridor as a single route from Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, Baku is positioning it as a network within a network. A railway that carries traffic only between two points has limited commercial potential. A railway that allows cargo to change direction can become much more valuable. This is the strategic logic behind President Aliyev’s claim that Nakhchivan could become an "indispensable transport hub."

Azerbaijan cannot compete with maritime powers by geography. It can, however, position itself between major markets. Its location between Asia and Europe gives it an opportunity to become a transit country.

For decades, Nakhchivan’s geographic separation from mainland Azerbaijan has been viewed primarily as a vulnerability. The proposed corridor attempts to turn that separation into an economic advantage. So, if Nakhchivan becomes a junction connecting the Azerbaijani railway system with Iran and the wider regional network, its location could become commercially valuable rather than merely strategically sensitive.

The advantages of the Zangezur Corridor and the planned 194-kilometer railway are clear, but one interesting question remains: where will the 15 million tons of cargo come from?

According to President Ilham Aliyev, many international organizations and several countries are expressing interest in this route, particularly in the Nakhchivan section of the railway. One of them is the European Union. Representatives of the European Union were sent to Nakhchivan, where they familiarized themselves with the situation on the ground, and the EU also wishes to participate in this corridor.

International participation could bring investment, logistics expertise and access to additional cargo networks.

Ultimately, the success of the Zangezur Corridor will not be determined by the number of kilometers of railway built or by the capacity written into a feasibility study. Baku is not just building a railway connecting two divided parts of the country, it is trying to build a new transit artery before there is a full demand for it.