‘Zangezur corridor’ is tool of pan-Turkic interests – Bogdan Bezpalko

Speaking with Alpha News, political scientist Bogdan Bezpalko commented on Turkish Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadir Uraloglu’s statement that the so-called “Zangezur corridor” will increase the capacity of the Middle Corridor.

“The ‘Zangezur corridor’ project is primarily aligned with the interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan, with pan-Turkic interests. Of course, it is not in Armenia’s interests. It’s in Armenia’s interests to control all of this as much as possible, and ideally to the point of being able to shut it down or otherwise influence it at any time. But, of course, Armenia won’t be allowed to do so because this corridor presupposes extraterritorial status. That is, this corridor will be controlled by Turkey and Azerbaijan. In fact, that’s true. To put it bluntly, it’s a seizure of part of Armenia’s territory. While this part will officially remain Armenian, de facto, Turkey and Azerbaijan can and will most likely already control this territory. Furthermore, they will allow the uncontrolled flow of everything possible through this corridor—from Chinese goods to military equipment,” Bezpalko said.

According to the expert, the opening of the so-called “Zangezur corridor” threatens Armenia with the loss of sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.

“This threatens Armenia with the loss of sovereignty, independence, and territory. Looking at Pashinyan, one gets the impression that the Armenian elites have set a course to surrendering the Armenian state—the very idea of an Armenian state—in exchange for entry into the ‘civilized’ Western world, even if this entry occurs through Turkey and Azerbaijan,” Bezpalko concluded.