“The creation of the Zangazur Corridor won’t only endanger the independence and territorial integrity of Armenia, but will also have serious consequences for Russia, because there is no guarantee that this corridor won’t eventually turn into a corridor of NATO influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia, thus completing NATO’s blockade of Russia,” director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East and Central Asia, Russian expert Semyon Bagdasarov said on the air Solovyov LIVE channel.

In his opinion, this policy of Turkey is fully consistent with the policy of NATO.

“In other words, the construction of the Zangazur Corridor, since it benefits Turkey and Azerbaijan, may harm other countries in the region like Russia, Iran and even China,” he said.

Faktyoxla Lab. has tried to figure out how plausible the statements of the Russian expert are.

To begin with, the Zangazur Corridor is a transport artery with a length of 40 km, which should pass through the Syunik region (Zangazur) of Armenia, in order to connect the western regions of Azerbaijan with its exclave - the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. The opening of the corridor is envisaged in the trilateral statement of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the President of the Russian Federation dated November 10 last year, signed following the Second Karabakh War.

Clause 9 of the document reads as follows: “All economic and transport connections in the region shall be unblocked. The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions. The Border Guard Service of the Russian Federal Security Service shall be responsible for overseeing the transport connections. As agreed by the Parties, new transport links shall be built to connect the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and the western regions of Azerbaijan.”

It seems that there is no need to further explain what is meant by “transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.”

The second agreement, adopted on January 11, 2021, is aimed at the implementation of the ninth clause, which requires unblocking all connections in the region, including the transport infrastructure, as well as the transport corridor to Nakhchivan. Following the talks, a trilateral document was signed. Vladimir Putin said at the time that the deputy prime ministers of the three countries would soon prepare a plan for the development of the region. “In the near future, they will set up working expert subgroups and present concrete plans on the development of the transport infrastructure and the economy of the region. I am confident that the implementation of these agreements will benefit both the peoples of Armenia and Azerbaijan, will undoubtedly benefit the region as a whole, and hence the interests of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.

In short, the issue of creating the Zangazur Corridor, in fact, is enshrined in two interstate documents signed personally by Nikol Pashinyan and is the subject of negotiations with the participation of his deputy Mher Grigoryan.

The problem is that, firstly, the Armenian side is accustomed to very freely interpret the texts of international documents. Suffice it to recall that at one time the Armenian government misinterpreted the texts of four UN Security Council resolutions on Karabakh, the preamble of which specifically indicated the withdrawal from the specific occupied territories.

Secondly, the Zangazur Corridor functioned on this territory during the Soviet period and was destroyed by the Armenians during the years of occupation. Having seized the Zangilan, Jabrayil and Fuzuli districts, Armenia established control over 120 kilometers of the Azerbaijani-Iranian border, along which the railway passed. During the years of occupation, the Armenians completely dismantled the tracks both in the occupied area and in Meghri itself, having sold both rails and sleepers.

Thirdly, the conversation about the Zangazur Corridor is being raised by Azerbaijan quite legitimately in the context of the restoration of transport links in the post-conflict period. Therefore, initially, no one had any doubts about the presence of such an issue on the agenda, especially since it is envisaged in the text of the trilateral statement. Foreign media and experts noted that Azerbaijan, having agreed to the compact residence of Armenians in Karabakh, would receive in return an actual territorial increase: a transport corridor from the main territory of Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan through the territory of Armenia.

Of course, the corridor is important for Baku primarily because Nakhchivan has several kilometers of common border with Azerbaijan's main ally in the region - Turkey. So, Azerbaijan is determined to implement the ninth clause of the trilateral statement.

Indirectly, the remarks of high-ranking representatives of the government of the Russian Federation testify to the invariability of Moscow's position regarding the strict observance of the provisions of both trilateral statements on Karabakh. On May 1 in Kazan city, on the sidelines of a meeting of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in a conversation with his Armenian counterpart noted that the statement of the leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia adopted after the end of hostilities “opened up great opportunities for joint work.”

“First of all, unblocking of all economic and transport links, creation of new infrastructure routes. All this will create conditions for sustainable development of Transcaucasia,” said Mishustin.

He drew the attention of his counterpart that these new corridors will create effective North-South transport links, which will allow Russia to enter the Persian Gulf countries, link the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf.

Finally, many international analysts and experts emphasize the benefits of the construction of the Zangazur Corridor, which will create new economic opportunities for the countries of the region.

So, the Zangazur Corridor:

- will form a sustainable peace in the region, because the restoration of communications is very important for achieving long-term peace in the region;

- will help the residents of Armenia to move freely in Russia and around the world;

- will provide an opportunity to expand the railway network among Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia and Iran;

- will further strengthen the Caspian transport network including the East-West transport corridor and the North-South international transport corridor. It would also facilitate the construction of an oil and gas pipeline system from the Caspian Sea to Europe;

- will further increase the transit potential of the region, which has already played an important role for gas supply chains to the EU, the US, Russia and China;

- allows the operation of a transport corridor connecting Europe and Asia, which is of strategic importance for Russia and China, promises potential economic benefits for all countries in the region;

- will significantly improve Azerbaijan’s position in the transport corridors "East-West" and "North-South", since it is located on the historical "Silk Road". The East-West Corridor is of great importance to China and the EU, which have a combined trade turnover of 560 billion euros in 2019, and have signed a new Investment Agreement;

- improve alternative corridors of China within the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which will significantly increase freight traffic through Azerbaijan on the way from China to Turkey and vice versa;

- will further improve trade activities between Azerbaijan and Turkey by reducing transit time;

- will become the main route for the transportation of goods to the South Caucasus Railway (SCR) and neighboring countries. Russian trains can travel through Azerbaijan through a corridor that links Armenia, Turkey and Iran;

- will attract additional cargoes to deliveries from Iran to Georgia, which are now being transported by road;

- will provide Russia with an alternative route to enter the markets of the Middle East and South Asia through Turkey. Russia will also get a direct overland route to Armenia;

- will reduce the economic problems of Armenia when entering the markets of Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union;

- will create an opportunity for Armenia to get a railway connection with its other trade partner Iran. Earlier, due to the lack of the necessary financial resources and the inability to attract foreign investments, Armenia couldn’t build a railway to Iran from its territory;

- will create an opportunity for Armenia to benefit from access to the East-West corridor, which can become the main corridor within the Belt and Road Initiative, while improving economic cooperation with Azerbaijan.

In short, the Zangazur Corridor will provide socio-economic, geopolitical and geostrategic dividends to the countries of the region. The corridor will primarily expand the railway network between Russia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Iran and Armenia and will have a positive impact on regional trade activities.

As for Bagdasarov’s statement that “there is no guarantee that the Zangazur Corridor won’t eventually turn into a corridor of NATO influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia, thus completing NATO’s blockade of Russia,” it should be noted that even without this corridor, relations between Azerbaijan and NATO are a unique example of cooperation with a country outside the bloc, which has an impressive practical component.

Despite the significant intensity of contacts, Azerbaijan doesn’t seek to join the alliance, doesn’t often participate in the bloc's exercises. In 2011, the country joined the Non-Aligned Movement and to this day doesn’t enter into any military-political alliances. Recently, the North Atlantic Alliance stated that “Azerbaijan cooperates with the Allies and other partner countries in many areas including security and defence reform and counter-terrorism.”

That is, if until now Azerbaijan hasn’t created problems for Russia through NATO, why should this happen after the construction of the Zangazur Corridor?

Thus, taking into account the above-mentioned facts, it is safe to say that Semyon Bagdasarov’s assertions that “the construction of the Zangazur Corridor, since it benefits Turkey and Azerbaijan, may harm other countries in the region like Russia, Iran and even China” aren’t substantiated and are false in nature.