ANKARA, Aug 26: The implementation of the Zangezur Corridor project will increase the level of economic cooperation between Ankara, Baku and Yerevan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said.
“With the implementation of this project with all its elements, economic cooperation between Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia will acquire a new dimension. The 224-kilometer-long Kars-Igdir railway, which is the basis of this project, will be built double-track and electrified. The line will carry 5.5 million passengers and 15 million tonnes of cargo per year. With the commissioning of the project worth 2.4 billion euros [$2.79 billion], the international trade line from China to the UK will become more efficient,” the Turkish leader said yesterday.
Baku seeks the creation of the Zangezur corridor, which will connect Azerbaijan with its exclave of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic through the southern Armenian province of Syunik.
Azerbaijan’s plans include the connection of the region of Zangilan, located in the Eastern Zangezur, with Western Zangezur, and then through the Ordubad region with Nakhchivan and Turkey.
In mid-July, US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack said that the US was ready to manage the Zangezur transport corridor to advance peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The Armenian prime minister’s spokesperson, Nazeli Baghdasaryan, said that Yerevan was not discussing the transfer of control over its territory between Azerbaijan and Nakhichivan to a third party.
(UNI)
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