Azerbaijan determined to implement Zangezur corridor project Baku and Tehran viewing alternative options

Along with the successful completion of local counter-terrorism measures in the Garabagh region and the establishment of constitutional order and legality here, Azerbaijan has accelerated the implementation of the regional transport and logistics hub project. In particular, work on laying steel highways and road infrastructure in the Zangezur corridor has been speeded up.

So on October 6, near the village of Aghband in the Zangilan region of Azerbaijan, a joint ceremony with Iran took place to lay a road bridge and future border and customs infrastructure facilities. The new bridge is a key component of the 123.5-kilometre Horadiz-Jabrayil-Zangilan-Aghband highway under construction. In the future, this route will connect with the transport communications of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic for direct access to Türkiye.

Today, most global actors recognize Azerbaijan as the main beneficiary of the changes that have occurred over the past three years in the transport and logistics realities of the South Caucasus. Over the past three years, European countries, as well as Russia, China, and the countries of Central Asia have been offering their options for establishing transit transportation through the territory of our country within the framework of the Middle Corridor.

And a lot has already been done, in particular, the combined sea and railway component of this corridor, the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR), has been in operation for five years, including the transhipment of goods along the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway line.

However, given the rapidly growing volume of traffic in the East-West direction (cargo traffic increased by 75% in 2022 alone), the BTK capacity may soon not be entirely sufficient. Currently, modernization work is underway here to increase the throughput capacity from 1 to 5 million tonnes of cargo per year.

However, no smaller volumes of cargo are transshipped within the framework of the North-South project, and taking into account plans to expand Russian-Iranian cargo transit, the need for additional transport capacity will significantly increase. Therefore, as part of transport and logistics diversification, almost immediately after the end of the victorious 44-day Patriotic War in Azerbaijan, work was initiated on the construction of road infrastructure and the laying of rails in the East Zangezur economic region.

The formation of communications of the cross-border international route called the “Zangezur Corridor”, is progressing very successfully. Thus, in less than three years, over two-thirds of the 110.4-kilometre single-track railway segment of this route, passing through the territory of the Jabrayil and Zangilan regions of Azerbaijan, to the border village of Aghband, was laid. As part of this project, it is planned to build three tunnels, several dozen bridges, nine railway stations, and erect 456 engineering structures for various purposes.

In particular, work on the construction of a railway bridge across the Hakari River, the length of which will be 418 metres, will be completed soon. The construction of this steel line is being carried out by Turkish companies with the support of local contractors, and all work is planned to be completed by the end of 2024.

At the same time, since October 2021, construction has been underway on a four-lane highway of the first technical category Horadiz-Jabrayil-Zangilan-Aghband with a length of 123.5 km, part of which will be six-lane. In recent months, work on this project has been accelerated: 80% of its total volume has been completed, in particular, the laying of the roadway has been completed, some sections have been asphalted, all three road tunnels of the future international highway with a total length of 12 kilometres have been sunk and concreted.

By the end of this year, it is planned to complete over 90% of the construction work on this highway, including putting into operation 12 more bridges, completing over two-thirds of the asphalt paving, etc.

And today, October 6, 2023, another important stage in the formation of the Zangezur corridor began: as part of the construction of the Horadiz-Jabrayil-Zangilan-Aghband highway, a solemn ceremony of laying the foundation of a road bridge and border-customs checkpoint took place in the area of the village of Aghband, Zangilan region on the Azerbaijan-Iran border infrastructure, and bank protection measures began on the Araz River.

It should be clarified that it was initially planned that the highway from Horadiz to Agbend would be continued through the territory of the Meghri region of Armenia and then connect with the transport arteries of Nakhchivan, which, in fact, was intended in the Tripartite Statement of the Leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia dated November 10, 2020. Based on this document, as well as the January 2021 statement, a working group was created at the level of deputy prime ministers of Azerbaijan, the Russian Federation and Armenia, and at first some activities were carried out to solve this transport problem.

However, then Armenia took an extremely unconstructive position on the issue of opening the Zangezur corridor, put forward counterproductive demands, manipulated the wording of the corridor’s status and generally delayed the entire negotiation process, leading it to a dead end.

Baku has repeatedly warned Yerevan that such an approach is not constructive, and recently Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, in an interview with the Hungarian publication Magyar Democracy, noted that such neglect of the process of unblocking transport communications harms Armenia itself, deprives it of economic benefits and can lead to that this country will miss another convenient opportunity to improve its own economy, since the Zangezur corridor may eventually simply bypass its territory.

Taking all this into account, Baku acted very far-sighted by concluding on March 11, 2022 an agreement on an alternative version of the Zangezur route within the framework of the “Memorandum of Understanding between the governments of Azerbaijan and Iran on the creation of new communication links between Azerbaijan's East Zangezur economic region of and Nakhchivan through the territory of the Islamic Republic of Azerbaijan.” Republic of Iran".

A project for the construction of a 55 km long road and a parallel railway line Imishli (Azerbaijan) - Parsabad (Iran), with the construction of four border bridges over the Araz River and the connection of rails and road in Nakhchivan has already been agreed upon.

Apparently, the solemn ceremony of laying the foundation of the road bridge and border-customs infrastructure on the Azerbaijani-Iranian border that took place today marks the beginning of the implementation of an alternative version of the Zangezur corridor.

During the event, the co-chairman of the State Commission on Economic, Trade and Humanitarian Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran, Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and the Minister of Roads and Urban Development of Iran, co-chairman of the commission from the Iranian side Mehrdad Bazrpash were informed about the coordinates and technical parameters of the new bridge over the Araz River and access road to it, got acquainted with the plan for installing a border and customs checkpoint.

Senior officials from both sides were also provided with information on bank protection measures and correction of the border river channel. It was noted that the construction of a new bridge with seven lanes will ensure unimpeded passage of at least 1,100 heavy trucks per day, as well as about 15,000 people and many dozens of buses. In addition, during the event, the projects for the construction of three other bridges and a transit railway line planned through the territory of Iran were considered.

“President Ilham Aliyev attaches special importance to carrying out restoration work in the territories liberated from occupation, and currently a road is being built from Horadiz to Aghband and the railway infrastructure is being restored. As a result of these measures, the region's transit capabilities will significantly expand.

At the same time, steps are being taken to improve the possibilities of entry and exit to the Nakchivan Autonomous Republic and facilitate the transportation of goods. To resolve these issues, an agreement was reached with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” noted Shahin Mustafayev.

The deputy prime minister also emphasised that the new road will serve transit freight traffic, which is important for both Azerbaijan and Iran, as well as for the entire region. The road connection from Aghband to Nakhchivan is a crucial part of the infrastructure of the East Zangezur Economic Region, and once the works are completed, the region will become a logistics centre serving the vast Eurasian region.

Ankara fully agrees with Baku’s plans to form the Zangezur corridor, and in the last period they have also accelerated work on the Turkish segment of this transport artery. As previously noted in releases from the Turkish Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, work on the Turkish part of the transport corridor is being carried out in Dilucu, Igdir and Kars, and is planned to be completed this year.

It should be recalled that on September 25 of this year, during the official visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to our country, the head of the fraternal state and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a protocol of intent on the construction of the Kars-Nakhchivan railway.

Let us recall that Ankara and Baku about nine years ago developed a preliminary project for laying a 214 km long railway track along the Kars-Igdir-Aralyk-Diluchu-Sadarak (NAR) route. For the final implementation of this project, it is also necessary to lay a new 13-kilometre section through the territory of the NAR (in the direction of the border Sadarak) and reconstruct 160 km of steel highways existing on the territory of the autonomy.