All roads of Armenia open to Azerbaijan - Nikol Pashinyan 

ArmInfo. All roads of Armenia are open to Azerbaijan, Armenia's Premier Nikol Pashinyan wrote in his article posted by the Armenpress news agency. 

The article reads: 

"The issue of regional connectivity is the one most frequently  exploited or escalated by Azerbaijan.  Azerbaijan says that Armenia  is not fulfilling its obligations, citing the obvious fact that  connection routes between Armenia and Azerbaijan are closed.

"Firstly, it should be emphasized that Armenia has no unilateral  obligations. Both sides have undertaken to open all transport and  economic routes to each other. Today, no transport or economic routes  of Azerbaijan is open to Armenia or to those passing through Armenia,  no road, no railway, no pipeline, no electricity line, no cable.

"All roads of Armenia are open to Azerbaijan. Back in 2022, the  Government of Armenia circulated a draft decree on opening three  border points on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, which would enable  Azerbaijan's cargo and passenger vehicles to enter the territory of  Armenia and to travel, for example, to Nakhchivan and Turkiye.

"These decrees were not adopted only because of Azerbaijan's  declinatory position and can be adopted by the Armenian government  within a week or two. Of course, there are no infrastructures for  access to Nakhchivan, and they need to be built, but this too is  something that can be done rather quickly.

"But right now, purely in terms of the readiness of the physical  infrastructure, for example, cargo trucks can enter the territory of  the Republic of Armenia via the Lachin-Kornidzor section through the  Kornidzor checkpoint, travel on our roads to the Armenia-Turkiye  border, and enter Turkiye through the Margara checkpoint. The same  goes for the opposite direction. The physical infrastructure  necessary for such transit cargo transportation is ready now, and  what remains to be done is to adopt a de-jure decision. We are ready  to adopt such a decision, provided there is interest from Azerbaijan  and Turkiye.

"We will ensure the safety of cargo transportation, but if there is a  psychological difficulty for Azerbaijani drivers and trucks, this  cargo transportation can be organized using Turkish trucks, which  have always traveled and are currently too actively traveling on  Armenian roads. Cargo trucks of other countries can do this, too.

"However, I wish to once again officially state that Armenia has  never undertaken any obligation, written or oral, or agreed or even  hinted that the provision of safety on its own territory, including  safety for international or Azerbaijani passenger or cargo  transportation, should or could be outsourced to another country.  There has been no such thing, there simply is no such thing. On the  contrary, Armenia has undertaken to guarantee the safety of passage,  which we are ready to do.

"Armenia has never undertaken any obligation, written or oral, or  agreed or even hinted that it might agree to any limitation of its  sovereignty, jurisdiction, or territorial integrity. Including on the  issue of communication from western Azerbaijan to the Nakhchivan  Autonomous Republic via the territory of the Republic of Armenia.

"Communication from western Azerbaijan to the Nakhchivan Autonomous  Republic via the territory of the Republic of Armenia is a subtopic  within the topic of regional communication channels, and Armenia has  never posed an obstacle here, either.

"Moreover, we have been and remain utmost creative and flexible in  this matter, too. In 2022, addressing Azerbaijan's concerns, we  proposed to outsource to an international specialized organization,  based on the principle of reciprocity, the front function of citizen  passport control and cargo customs and other controls during border  crossing. Azerbaijan has not agreed.

"Now, taking into account Azerbaijan's claim that due to the  long-standing conflict, Azerbaijani citizens will avoid passing  through the Republic of Armenia border and customs control, we have  proposed in this phase to start the opening of communications from  railway cargo transportation in the Zangelan-Meghri- Ordubad  direction and back, and in the Yeraskh-Ordubad-Meghri direction and  back. Moreover, we have proposed in writing an option that does not  undermine the sovereignty, jurisdiction, and territorial integrity of  either side. If Baku's concern is to ensure reliable cargo  transportation with Nakhchivan and back, that issue is resolved. All  that remains is for Azerbaijan to say yes. The construction of the  Nrnadzor-Karchevan railway in the territory of Armenia will take some  time. Another short piece of the railway should also be built in the  Yeraskh-Nakhchivan border section, but this is necessary for the  Armenia-Armenia and Azerbaijan-Turkiye railway connection, and this  work can be performed quickly, too.

"With the same principle, we are ready to provide transit of  pipelines, electricity lines, and cables from Azerbaijan to  Nakhchivan. It is unclear why these proposals are being rejected by  Azerbaijan. I hope it is not for creating a false pretext for  escalation.

"Azerbaijan also declares that if Armenia does not provide a road to  Nakhchivan, they will secure the western Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan  connection through the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran.  This is fine, we are not against it, and it is a matter of the  relationship between Iran and Azerbaijan, and for them to decide.

"But also to be clear, we affirm that the Republic of Armenia is  ready to provide passage from western Azerbaijan to the Nakhchivan  Autonomous Republic under the same legal conditions as those offered  by Iran.

"In response to this, Azerbaijan says that the passage should be  unhindered. In other words, is passage through Iran hindered? After  all, we are saying that we are ready to provide the same passage  under the same legal conditions.

"On the principle of reciprocity, we are ready to implement some  simplifications of transit procedures and to introduce automated  mechanisms. So why is Azerbaijan rejecting these constructive  proposals of ours?

"My conviction is clear: the opening of all regional economic and  transport communications, including from western Azerbaijan through  the territory of the Republic of Armenia to the Nakhchivan Autonomous  Republic and back, from Republic of Armenia's Meghri to Yeraskh  through the territory of Azerbaijan (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic)  and back, is fully prepared for, and only Azerbaijan's agreement is  needed for its implementation."