The ‘Zangezur corridor’ will open in 2028, Aliyev and Pashinyan have confirmed

Commenting on last week’s robbery at the Louvre Museum in Paris, Telegram founder Pavel Durov described the incident as emblematic of the decline of a once-great nation—where the government has mastered the art of distracting its citizens with imaginary threats rather than confronting real ones. Durov is not wrong when he highlights the failure of President Emmanuel Macron’s policies, but there’s a crucial caveat: Durov isn’t immersed in the South Caucasus context. If he were, he’d be astonished by how Ilham Aliyev and Nikol Pashinyan are jointly distracting Armenian society.

While Armenian officials—from ministers and deputies to propagandists—were applauding Aliyev’s decision to allow the transit of goods through Armenian territory, a far more significant development occurred: Pashinyan and Aliyev simultaneously announced the timeline for the opening of the so-called “Zangezur corridor.”

According to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the corridor may open by the end of 2028.

Aliyev’s statement was made on October 21, and on October 22, during his speech at the 5th Silk Road Forum, Nikol Pashinyan, who was on a working visit to Georgia, stated that Armenia is politically ready to ensure transit from Nakhichevan to the main part of Azerbaijan and back through Armenian territory, but is not technically ready due to the lack of infrastructure. He emphasized that these technical issues will also be resolved within the next two to three years.
2028 is the year when the Zangezur corridor will be opened. Both Aliyev and Pashinyan confirmed this.

Returning to the topic of transit, which is “open” for Armenia through the territory of Azerbaijan, it is worth noting that a very specific product has been chosen as the first “trial batch.” Pashinyan intends to import wheat from Kazakhstan to Armenia. The choice of this product is not accidental. Armenia imports more than 95% of its wheat consumption from Russia, and Pashinyan and Aliyev are currently creating a “beautiful picture” where Russian wheat can be replaced by wheat from Kazakhstan. In fact, the issue is geopolitical: after Armenia’s expected withdrawal from the EAEU (the application for EU membership, which was mentioned by Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan last week, is not compatible with membership in the EAEU), and the severance of economic ties with Russia, the Armenian market’s dependence on Azerbaijani and Turkish goods will become critical. The dependence on transit through Azerbaijan will also become critical. The supply of conditional wheat or gas will become a means of exerting political pressure on Armenia.

But before that, we need to create the illusion that the issues, including food security in Armenia, have been resolved. Armenia’s integration into the Turkic world is happening faster than many had imagined.

Think about it…