Erdogan blames Iran for obstacles to Zangazur corridor operation

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the implementation of the Zangazur corridor was not merely limited to the obstacles that may be posed by Armenia, but also Iran.

He made the remarks to reporters in an interview as he was returning from a visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Azerbaijan on June 14, Anadolu reports.

Iran

“It is about Iran. Iran’s stance upset us and Azerbaijan. Iran should be worried as a matter of fact. We hope they will have a positive attitude on this issue so we can integrate Türkiye, Azerbaijan and Iran and we may even launch a line stretching from Beijing to London,” he said.

The president added that Türkiye stakes on peace and stability in the region and the world, noting that dialogue and diplomacy are seen as priority levers in this direction.

The president stressed that Türkiye does not seek to distinguish between the West and the East in its foreign policy.

"We are as close to the West as we are to the East," Erdogan noted.

Armenia

He drew attention to the situation in the South Caucasus, noting that advancing the peace process between Baku and Yerevan would also make a significant contribution to the normalisation of Türkiye-Armenia relations.

"The door for peace in the region, where there has been much grief, is ajar. Therefore, the parties must not miss this chance and act responsibly," the Turkish leader said.

In the meantime, he called Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's recent visit to Ankara as an "important step".

"Responding positively to the invitation of the Turkish side, Pashinyan overcame many obstacles and opposition sentiments in his country. I had the opportunity to talk briefly with him during the ceremony. I thanked him for coming to Türkiye," Erdogan said.

Erdogan described as "important" the Armenian prime minister's remarks about recognising Azerbaijan's territorial integrity, including the Karabakh region.

"However, as I said earlier, there are negative sentiments against [Nikol] Pashinyan in Armenia. And this is a very and very important point. Until today, Pashinyan has not taken a step back," the politician said.

According to him, Ankara will continue working closely with Azerbaijan to strengthen the unity of the Turkic world.

Russia

Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Overchuk discussed the issue of unblocking communications in the region.

During the meeting, Pashinyan noted that the bilateral agenda is very full and the sides are working towards the implementation of point 9 of the November 9, 2020 statement.

"We are interested in opening all transport and economic communications in the region, based on the sovereignty and eligibility of the parties through the territory of which the possible infrastructure passes," Pashinyan said.

In his turn, Overchuk noted that the meeting of Armenian and Russian deputy prime ministers in Sochi stated that bilateral cooperation successfully develops, recalling the 96 per cent growth of trade turnover in the first 5 months of 2023.

The parties referred to the results of the negotiations of the working group of the deputy prime ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.

Overchuk also met Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan before meeting with Pashinyan.

The sides discussed the work of the intergovernmental commission on economic cooperation, the bilateral agenda and cooperation within the EAEU.

To recall, the meeting of the trilateral working group on unblocking communications in the region, co-chaired by Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan Mher Grigoryan, Alexey Overchuk and Shahin Mustafayev, was held in the Russian capital on June 2.

After the meeting of the working group in Moscow, the Armenian government reported that significant progress was registered in agreeing on modalities for unblocking transport communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan.