2024-09-05 14:41:10
Yerevan is ready to discuss with Baku the issue of a simplified customs and border regime, but not an unhindered transition, Sargis Khandanyan, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the National Assembly, from the government’s “Civil Pact”, insisted in a conversation with “Freedom”.
“Those are the red lines that Armenia cannot simply give up,” Khandanyan emphasized.
After the agreement with Iran on the construction of the road to Nakhichevan, Baku announced that “Zangezur Corridor” has lost its attractiveness for them. But in recent days, both Azerbaijani and Turkish officials are not only actively talking about opening a corridor, but also putting forward conditions.
Baku’s demand was formulated yesterday by Hikmet Hajiyev, adviser to the President of Azerbaijan, that Armenia should provide unimpeded communication between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan, without customs and border control. The Minister of Transport of Turkey mentioned the dates that they expect the “Zangezur Corridor” to be opened in 5 years, until 2029. Neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the government has officially responded yet.
“The blockade process should take place on clear principles: the jurisdiction, sovereignty, equality and reciprocity of the countries, and it is very important here for the customs and all other control mechanisms to operate at the borders of the countries for security, both from the point of view of the passage of goods and citizens. And, of course, there will be different methods of customs and border crossing in the world, which are also facilitated, they also use certain modern technologies, which are debatable and negotiable issues, but unhindered crossing, as they are trying to formulate, is not acceptable for Armenia, because it is somewhat again assumes extraterritoriality from itself, which is a violation of our sovereignty,” Khandanyan said.
At the end of last year, Prime Minister Pashinyan also spoke about the possibility of simplifying the procedures, referring to the principles of Armenia’s “Crossroads of Peace” program, which implies regional lifting of the blockade.
Continuation at the source.