BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 3. Azerbaijan doesn't intend to restrict Armenians' passage through its territory, the country's Presidential Representative for Special Assignments Elchin Amirbayov told Estonian Public Broadcasting (ERR) company, Trend reports.
Amirbayov noted that Azerbaijan has begun discussions with Armenia on the restoration of the Zangezur Corridor to provide citizens of Azerbaijan residing in Nakhchivan or the main part of Azerbaijan with the opportunity for unimpeded passage through this territory.
He explained that this involves a 42-kilometer railway track which, unfortunately, was destroyed as a result of the conflict.
"But it's not just about building the missing section. By the way, from our side, this work is practically completed. I mean, the Horadiz-Aghband section. Unfortunately, work on the technical justification of this project has not even started on the Armenian side," the official said. "However, the main question for us is how the safety of Azerbaijani citizens who want to travel through this 42-kilometer section will be ensured."
"Currently, we are only talking about the railway. In the future, of course, we would like road communication between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan, and further to Türkiye and Europe to be coordinated as well," Amirbayov noted. "We have no intention of restricting Armenians' ability to pass through the territory of Azerbaijan in any way, but if we refer to the commitments that the parties undertook under the trilateral statement on a ceasefire, its ninth paragraph clearly outlines this part of the restoration of communications. Globally, this also means the restoration of connectivity between Asia and Europe."
Amirbayov emphasized that, undoubtedly, if citizens of Armenia want to travel through the territory of Azerbaijan, their safety will be ensured by the Azerbaijani side.
"Another matter is that, within the same trilateral statement, the Armenian side committed itself to ensuring the security of the aforementioned railway section with the forces of Russian Federal Security Service, which currently ensure the security of Armenia's external borders with at least two neighboring countries - Türkiye and Iran," he said.
Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel