BAKU, Azerbaijan, January 7. Türkiye expects implementation of the Zangezur Corridor project by 2029, TurkicWorld reports via the statement of the country's Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Abdulkadır Uraloglu for local media.
"We consider this corridor irreplaceable," emphasized Uraloglu.
He said that the Azerbaijani part of the Zangezur Corridor (from Baku to Horadiz) is nearing completion.
"The length of the Turkish section of the corridor is 224 km. Overall, the entire process of creating this corridor will take five years. So, by 2028, we'll complete all the work," the minister noted.
Construction is ongoing on the section from Horadiz to Ordubad (Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan), excluding the part that passes through the territory of Armenia, he explained.
"The existing road connecting the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic with Türkiye, approximately 100 km in length, will need reconstruction. Its extension will be the Igdir-Kars railway, for which tender procedures have already been carried out, and we will start laying it this year," Uraloglu pointed out.
The minister also pointed out that recently there have been positive responses from the Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding this corridor, although previously, the Armenian side reacted negatively to a similar initiative.
"The length of the Armenian section of the Zangezur Corridor is about 43 km. In case of an agreement, the Armenian side will need to plan and tender to consider the corridor as fully completed," he said.
He also mentioned that Iran has proposed the construction of a road on its side that will connect Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and Türkiye through its territory (bypassing Armenia), and negotiations are underway regarding this.
"The Zangezur Corridor is the shortest route for Türkiye to reach Central Asia and the Turkic countries," added the minister.
Proposed by the Azerbaijani side, the Zangezur Corridor aims to establish a transportation link between Azerbaijan's mainland and its exclave, Nakhchivan, passing through Armenian territory. This corridor emerged as part of the above-mentioned trilateral statement signed by Azerbaijani, Armenian, and Russian leaders following the 2020 second Karabakh war.
One point of the agreement outlined Armenia's commitment to ensuring the security of transport connections to Nakhchivan, facilitating the unrestricted movement of people, vehicles, and goods in both directions.
