Azerbaijani president: Railway must connect Nakhchivan with Türkiye

President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has outlined plans to expand regional and domestic connectivity, stressing the need for a railway link between Nakhchivan and Türkiye as part of a broader, coordinated infrastructure strategy.

“There must be a railway that can also connect Nakhchivan with Türkiye, and all these projects, of course, should be carried out in a coordinated fashion,” President Ilham Aliyev said in an interview with local television channels on January 5, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

The head of state emphasised that infrastructure projects can be implemented more rapidly on Azerbaijani territory, noting that there are no longer any obstacles related to the Zangezur Corridor within the country.

President Ilham Aliyev also highlighted concrete steps already being taken to improve connectivity with Nakhchivan, including the construction of a bridge over the Araz River in the Aghband settlement on Azerbaijan’s initiative.

“Currently, to get from the main part of Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, a long road must be covered from Bilasuvar. It will now be only 45–50 kilometers from the territory of Iran to Nakhchivan. Thus, there will be two connections between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, one through Armenia and one through Iran. We will actually unite Nakhchivan, East Zangezur and Garabagh into one region,” the President said.

According to the head of state, the development of transport infrastructure will go hand in hand with economic and social projects in the liberated territories.

“In parallel with the construction work underway in Garabagh and East Zangezur, we will connect this region to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, whether it is green energy, agriculture or irrigation – large irrigation projects will be implemented there – or tourism. I want to say again that we would have done it anyway, but it is good that we are doing it peacefully,” President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said.

President Aliyev also stressed that the opening of regional transport routes would be beneficial not only for Azerbaijan, but for Armenia as well.

“Because Armenia can and will get out of the deadlock it is currently in. Roads will be opened between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Roads will be opened between Türkiye and Armenia. Armenia will gain access to Iranian railways through Nakhchivan and to Russian railways through Azerbaijan. In other words, this is also beneficial for Armenia. There should be no losers here. In any case, there will be no losers from an economic and transport point of view. If someone considers themselves a loser politically, this is, as they say, their own problem. But if everyone looks at this from the point of view of pragmatism, they can get something good for themselves here,” he said.

Turning to domestic connectivity, the head of state outlined Azerbaijan’s broader goal of linking the liberated territories with the rest of the country.

“Our main goal is to connect the liberated territories with each other and to connect this region with other regions of Azerbaijan – the Ganja-West direction through Kalbajar, the Tartar-Barda-Baku direction, and the Fuzuli-Bilasuvar-South direction. Thus, connectivity in the country will be more reliable, and the time spent on the road will be shorter,” President Ilham Aliyev stated.

President Aliyev also noted that the expansion of transport infrastructure will encourage internal migration and balanced regional development.

Emphasising that the use of railways, highways, and, in the future, air routes will strengthen internal migration within the country, the head of state stated: “It is not a requirement for everyone to come to Baku. On the contrary, people are coming to a city like Khankendi from Baku, Nakhchivan, and other places these days. Khankendi and Aghdam will be the main cities of the liberated regions.”

Providing updated figures, the President said that tens of thousands of people have already returned to the liberated territories, with the number expected to rise significantly in the coming months.

Noting that 70,000 people are already living in the liberated territories, the President of Azerbaijan said: “It is possible that 120,000, 130,000, or 140,000 people will live and work there by the end of this year.”

By Vugar Khalilov