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Qabil Ashirov

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Disputes over the Zangazur Corridor are getting deeper day by day. Armenia and its mouthpieces in the West, especially in France, flaring up the issue by accusing Azerbaijan of unfounded invasion attempts. Thus, despite Azerbaijan's all refusal, Armenian mass media and organisations sponsored by the Armenia diaspora have tried to develop a public opinion about as if Azerbaijan aims to invade the territory for three years.

So, like it or not, Azerbaijan is obliged to respond to these baseless accusations. Recently, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev clarified the issue in an interview with local TV channels. Reminding that Armenia has not fulfilled its obligations shown in the November 10 Trilateral Statement, the President once again repeated that Baku has not any intention to invade any territories.

First up, President Ilham Aliyev touched on the issue of the “intersection of peace” presented by the Armenian Prime Minister in Tbilisi and called it PR conducted by Armenia. It was emphasized that Pashinyan's proposal entails the same concept of the Zangazur corridor that had been presented by Azerbaijan. Armenia first did not accept Azerbaijan's proposal and then represented it under a totally different name such as "Armenian crossroad," "intersection of peace" and so on. President Ilham Aliyev recalled that Armenia cannot ensure the security for Azerbaijani travelers going to and coming back from its exclave Nakhchivan.

Besides, the President pointed out that Armenia and its mouthpieces deliberately misinterpreted the terminology. The President emphasized that there is a North-South Corridor that passes through the territory of Azerbaijan, and it does not mean that our sovereignty is being questioned. There is also an East-West Corridor, but for some reason, the attitude to this corridor is a little different in Armenia. This is why it was named an Armenian crossroad, a junction and then an “intersection of peace”, but this is actually nothing more than a PR campaign.

In a comment to Azernews, a geopolitics and energy analyst in Globes, Dean Shmuel Elmas, noted that Armenia needs an announcement for the same project because they understand that they are the weakest country in the South Caucasus, especially in comparison with Azerbaijan.

“Baku has great relations with the EU, and great friends such as Israel and Turkiye. But who are the friends of Armenia? France and Iran, that's it. They hoped that Russia would help them in Garabagh while we all know what happened in 2020 and a few months ago. President Putin looked on Armenia as a tool, and when he didn't need them - He threw them away,” the expert said.

He noted that Armenia pays heed to the opening of the Zangazur corridor because of several issues: First and foremost, they like the current status of Nakhchivan, while Baku has no any direct land connection with Turkiye and then to Europe. Secondly, the Armenians understand their regional weakness, and that they would become even weaker worldwide with the Zangazur corridor.

“The last point is the Iranian perspective: Armenia became a true regional puppet of the Ayatollah regime. Khamenei suffered huge blows during last years when he tried to destabilize Azerbaijan. But, we all know how successful is President Aliyev in the defense sector, and at all aspects: from intelligence to the finest Israeli capabilities,” the expert emphasised.

He pointed out that there is no real reason to care for Armenia. This is right that they have aspirations to come back to Garabagh, but this is totally nonsense. The expert compared them to Arabic military groups and some terror organisations who think that they can conquer Israel.

“Armenia enslaved its economy by holding Garabagh under occupation. I've been to Garabagh and I know very well that Armenia did not care about the development of Garabagh, it cared about military infrastructure in Garabagh. When you waste all your money on political aspirations and not about your people - This is the consequence,” Dean Shmuel Elmas added.

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Qabil Ashirov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @g_Ashirov

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