Armenian authorities` statements on Zangezur corridor aimed at  covering up their own blunders - opposition politician 

ArmInfo. The Armenian authorities' claims about disproportionate pressure on the republic from the international community, recognition of Artsakh as Azerbaijani, as well as their statements on the Zangezur corridor, etc. are baseless and aimed at covering up their own criminal blunders, Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) Armen Ashotyan, who is in custody now, wrote in his article. 

According to him, the emergence of the term "Zangezur Corridor" was  the result of the activities of the Prime Minister of the Republic of  Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

Statements by Azerbaijani President Aliyev on this issue gave this  topic new impetus. "No matter how much Pashinyan and his team tried  to cover up the problem, no matter how much they, with their  characteristic lies and cynicism, declared that "the issue is  closed," the rather open and very aggressive speech of the President  of Azerbaijan became a cold shower on the heads of those who still  believed government propagandists ", the politician emphasized.

He noted that the pan-Turkic project through the territory of  Armenia, through which peoples of Turkic origin were to unite in the  orbit of Asia Minor, the South Caucasus, Central and Central Asia, is  not new. It was born at the beginning of the 20th century, but its  implementation was prevented by the Sovietization of the South  Caucasus, and the dream of a "united Turkic world" became dusty on  the shelves. The collapse of the Soviet Union became an opportunity  to implement the pan-Turkic plan, but the victory of the Armenian  people in the Artsakh liberation war left no chance of creating a  unified Turkic territory throughout the world.

"After Pashinyan came to power in 2018, a new window of opportunity  opened for Turkey and its supporting geopolitical centers. Aliyev  made the most of the situation after the terrible and tragic 44-day  war, fixing this time bomb in a tripartite statement on November 9,  2020. In his accusations against the "former" Pashinyan in his  "justifications" tries to include the problem of the "Zangezur  corridor", arguing that all proposals for the Artsakh settlement  always include the issue of opening all communications.  However,  neither the first President of the Republic of Armenia Levon  Ter-Petrosyan, nor the second President Robert Kocharyan, nor the  third President Serzh Sargsyan left in the negotiating legacy not a  single provision, opportunity or formulation, thanks to which  Azerbaijan and Turkey could return to their old dream. To prove my  words, I present to you an analysis of the documents adopted by the  Organization of Turkic States (the only institutional body of the  pan-Turkic project) from the day of its creation to the present day,  which once again clearly proves that it is Nikol Pashinyan who is the  revival of the "Zangezur corridor" together with Erdogan and Aliyev,"  Ashotyan noted.

He recalled that the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was created  as the Cooperation Council of Turkic- Speaking States in 2009 on the  basis of the Nakhichevan Treaty and has since adopted 13  declarations.  From the very beginning, the mention of  Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in  the statements of this organization was quite restrained and did not  stand out with clearly pro- Azerbaijani formulations. In the  Nakhichevan Agreement of 2009, the parties reaffirmed their  commitment to the principles of territorial integrity and the  inviolability of internationally recognized borders. In the Almaty  Declaration of 2011, the organization expressed support for the  sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of Azerbaijan's  borders.

"Both in 2009, and in 2011, and after that, in the documents adopted  until 2021, there are no concepts of the "Zangezur corridor",  "occupied territories" and other similar formulations. This continued  until the Istanbul Declaration 2021 was adopted year, in which the  "Zangezur Corridor" was officially mentioned for the first time. The  organization notes the "Zangezur Corridor" as a new opportunity to  promote improved connections within the framework of the  Trans-Caspian International East-West Corridor and calls on member  states to support the efforts of the Azerbaijani government towards  its speedy launch (para. 40).  After this, mention of this corridor  becomes an integral part of the documents adopted by the Turkic  organization (Samarkand 2022, Ankara 2023, etc.). This organization  began to accept sharply pro- Azerbaijani texts only after the 44-day  war, and Aliyev's "Zangezur Corridor" appeared in official documents  of the organization only in the summer of 2021 after Pashinyan's  re-election as a result of early parliamentary elections. In other  words, the "Zangezur corridor" is just the result of Pashinyan's  "diplomatic efforts", which were never part of the international  agenda until he signed paragraph 9 of the statement on November 9,  2020. If this topic, as well as the biased position on the Artsakh  issue, were absent even from the agenda of the organization of  Turkish countries, it is obvious that the atmosphere in other  international structures would hardly be more favorable for  Azerbaijan.

Thus, the statements of the current authorities about  disproportionate pressure on RA from the international community, the  recognition of Artsakh as Azerbaijani, the Zangezur corridor, etc.  are groundless and aimed at covering up their own criminal blunders,"  the politician stated.