Azerbaijan actually raises an issue that it calls “western Azerbaijan”. And Azerbaijan calls “western Azerbaijan” approximately 60-70% of the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia and invites us to discuss the issue of “western Azerbaijan”, while calling 60-70% of the territory of the Republic of Armenia “western Azerbaijan”. This was stated by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in an interview with Turkish media.

“We say that there is no “western Azerbaijan” in Armenia. If we want to look for western Azerbaijan, or see western Azerbaijan, then western Azerbaijan is the Kazakh, Aghstafa, Getabey, Kelbajar, Lachin, Zangelan, Kubatlu regions of Azerbaijan, if I forgot to name some of the regions, it does not mean a deliberate omission, but I mean, we can look at the map and say where western Azerbaijan is. Here is western Azerbaijan. There is no western Azerbaijan on this side of this line. In case of great desire, Nakhchivan can also be considered western Azerbaijan in geographical terms.

I mean, they are trying to place this under the logic of humanitarian issues, calling on us to discuss some issue, but I say again, they call 60% of the sovereign territory of our country “western Azerbaijan”. And therefore, such an issue is not something to be discussed by us, it cannot be discussed by any country.

And in general, if we are talking about the topic of refugees, I have already mentioned, we even have a document about the return of refugees to Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent regions. In Armenia and the Diaspora, there are refugees from Nakhichevan, Baku, Sumgait, the adjacent regions of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ganja, etc. Our perception is that these are simply territorial claims against Armenia, and therefore we cannot discuss this issue.

The so-called “Zangezur corridor” is also unacceptable for us for this very reason, because it contains a territorial claim against the Republic of Armenia. If we are talking about transport communication and economic communication, we are open and say yes, we are ready, as I have already said, to unblock regional, transport and economic ties under the conditions of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, jurisdiction and reciprocity of the countries. And understanding that there are complications, we even say that we are ready for certain simplifications so that this becomes a reality, and we have made a specific proposal for the restoration of the railway connection and are waiting for Azerbaijan's response. Moreover, we are not publishing the essence of this proposal for the simple reason to rule out a violation of diplomatic ethics, since it would mean revealing the essence of a working document, but in our assessment we have resolved this issue and expect a similar solution for ourselves.

Today I say that we have proposed a solution that will solve the issue of railway freight transportation from western Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan through the territory of Armenia. All that remains is for Azerbaijan to agree to this solution. Moreover, since 2022, if I am not mistaken, the Government has been circulating a draft Government decision on the opening of three checkpoints on the border with Azerbaijan. In other words, the draft is about opening checkpoints at specific border points so that Azerbaijani vehicles, cargo, and citizens can travel through the territory of the Republic of Armenia, including to Nakhichevan. And this is how we see the issue,“ - Prime Minister noted.

 

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