Aliyev is closing Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant and opening the “Zangezur corridor”

(Ilham Aliyev considers Pashinyan’s victory his own personal victory)

Let’s start with a question: who has done more for Azerbaijani statehood: Heydar Aliyev or Nikol Pashinyan?

The results of the Armenian parliamentary elections and the preservation of the Civil Contract party’s political monopoly are perceived in Baku as a strategic victory. Azerbaijan’s leadership is convinced that the time has come to fully reap the benefits of the current situation. Statements made by Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, the day before in Nakhichevan, clearly demonstrate the direction of further pressure on Yerevan. Baku is openly declaring that it is approaching its historic goal, the opening of the so-called “Zangezur corridor,” intended to directly link Azerbaijan’s main territory with Nakhichevan.

Despite the use of diplomatic language and references to international initiatives such as the TRIPP project, Azerbaijan has not deviated one step from the concept of an extraterritorial enclave connecting route. This is confirmed by the Armenian-American agreements of January 2026. Under this document, signed by Marco Rubio and Ararat Mirzoyan, a management model was established in which Armenian state services are relegated to a “back office,” while direct servicing of transit is handed over to private operators, referred to as the “front office.” The wording on unimpeded connectivity, enshrined in documents dated August 8, 2025, has effectively fulfilled Baku’s long-standing demand, allowing Azerbaijan to legalize the extraterritorial regime of the “Zangezur corridor” through an American mechanism.

Alongside its transport and logistics demands, Baku is simultaneously moving toward the systematic dismantling of Armenia’s energy independence. Aliyev has stated outright that the closure of the Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant is inevitable. The purpose of this rhetoric is obvious: decommissioning the key nuclear plant would create a massive electricity shortage in Armenia. Azerbaijan is already declaring its readiness to take on the role of supplier and cover this shortfall.

The situation is further compounded by synchronized statements from Yerevan, where representatives of the ruling team have allowed for the possibility of purchasing Azerbaijani gas (as Sargis Khandanyan, MP from the Civil Contract faction, said on August 11) in the event that Russian supplies are cut off. In this way, Armenia’s leadership is voluntarily handing the country’s “energy switch” over to Baku. This creates enormous risks, similar to those that emerged during the blockade of Artsakh, when Azerbaijan cut off not only the physical movement of people but also supplies of key energy resources.

Azerbaijani propaganda no longer hides its ambition to transform Nakhichevan from an isolated region into the main transport and logistics hub of Eurasia. In essence, Baku is appropriating Armenia’s own “Crossroads of Peace” concept, relying on the terms fixed in place after the events of August 2025. The expected cargo flow through Armenian territory, projected at 15 million tons per year, is intended to drive Nakhichevan’s economic takeoff. This picture may lead to the conclusion that the current actions of Armenia’s authorities have benefited Azerbaijan’s state interests far more than the efforts of previous generations of Azerbaijani leaders: first Karabakh was lost, and now the process of transferring control of the region’s most critical communication and energy hubs to Baku is being completed.

And let’s end with the same question: who has done more for Azerbaijani statehood: Heydar Aliyev or Nikol Pashinyan?

Think about it…

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