Baku and Yerevan Still Far Apart on Reopening Transportation Links, Marinina Says

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Dec. 15 – Despite committing themselves to reopening the transportation networks blocked by earlier Armenian-Azerbaijani fighting, Baku and Yerevan remain far apart on that issue, with Baku hoping that Yerevan will soften its position and Yerevan hoping that Moscow will force Baku to do so, Inna Marinina says.

            The most recent talks among Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia in Moscow show that any progress on this issue is now “obviously frozen,” the Rhythm of Eurasia commentator says, despite Vladimir Putin’s assurance the situation can be resolved (ritmeurasia.org/news--2021-12-15--odin-koridor-ili-vse-dorogi-pridut-li-erevan-i-baku-k-obschemu-znamenatelju-57808).

            Baku for its part, Marinina says, has focused its attention on the need to open the Zengezur corridor and stressed that such a development would help not only Azerbaijan but all the countries in the region. It says that the road between Azerbaijan proper and Nakhichevan could be opened in 2022 and the rail line in three to four years.

            According to Baku expert Ilgar Velizade, the two sides have agreed on the technical aspects of these routes but notes that Armenia is refusing to give the go ahead to the project because of its concerns about sovereignty and tariffs even though Russian border guards are to man the route.

            “The complete realization of the project will depend on the speed of construction of the railway through the territory of Armenia,” he says. Azerbaijan will be ready soon. But automobile traffic could start as soon as 2022 given that Armenia only has to repair 44 to 45 kilometers of highway.

            But Armenian analysts like Ayk Khalatyan are skeptical and point to many apparently insurmountable problems. According to him, all of Azerbaijan’s talk about the Zengezur corridor is worrisome because “before the Karabakh war, there was no such term as the Zengezur corridor.”

            What must happen, the Armenian analyst says, is the simultaneous opening of all transportation routes in the region rather than any move on one of them while others are neglected. Moreover, he continues, there must not be any talk of “extraterritorial” status for people or goods passing through the territory of another state.

            Moscow needs to remind Baku of the fact that none of what Azerbaijani officials and experts are talking about is to be found in either the November 2020 or January 2021 declarations and that if Baku hopes for progress, it must act in conformity with what has been agreed rather than seek to modify those accords by creating new facts on the ground.