Hajiyev Threatens Armenia: “No Alternative to Zangezur Corridor” — Armenian MP Warns of Dangerous Consequences in Exclusive Interview with The Armenian Report

In an exclusive interview with The Armenian Report, Armenian opposition lawmaker Tigran Abrahamyan responded sharply to renewed international pressure on Armenia to open the so-called "Zangezur corridor", calling it a direct threat to Armenia’s national interests and sovereignty. His comments come after Asaf Hajiyev, Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC), insisted that “there is no alternative” to the corridor, which Azerbaijan demands be established through Armenia’s Syunik province.

Hajiyev, echoing Baku’s long-standing position, said the corridor should allow unhindered Azerbaijani movement across Armenian land, comparing it to Russia's railway link to Kaliningrad via Lithuania.

“The idea of the so-called ‘Zangezur corridor’ is one of the main goals of the Turkish-Azerbaijani agenda,” Abrahamyan told The Armenian Report. “And it hasn’t lost relevance — in fact, it’s gaining momentum again, especially now that Iran is distracted by the deepening conflict with Israel. Turkey and Azerbaijan are taking full advantage.”

Abrahamyan, a member of Armenia’s “With Honor” opposition alliance, explained that both Turkey and Azerbaijan are pushing harder now because two key regional powers — Iran and Russia — are currently weakened or distracted. Iran has been one of the most vocal opponents of the corridor idea, warning that any unmonitored land route connecting Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhijevan through Syunik threatens its own national security and cuts Iran off from Armenia.

“But Iran is now focused on the Iran-Israel conflict and cannot engage as it once did,” Abrahamyan noted. “And Russia, entangled in its war in Ukraine since 2022, has turned its full attention elsewhere. This vacuum is giving Turkey and Azerbaijan room to maneuver.”

According to Abrahamyan, the so-called corridor is not a development project — it's a political and military strategy, backed by Turkish and Azerbaijani efforts to reshape the region in their image and reduce Armenia’s control over its own territory.

“All those states promoting this corridor logic are acting against Armenian interests,” he said. “This is purely a Turkish-Azerbaijani framework.”

Hajiyev argued that the so-called Zangezur corridor would create economic benefits and regional cooperation — calling it “the cheapest route” — and even suggested that Azerbaijani citizens and goods should pass through Syunik without inspection by Armenian authorities. He likened the arrangement to other international transit routes, insisting there are global precedents for such “corridors.”

When asked whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s planned visit to Turkey could include talks about the corridor, Abrahamyan expressed deep concern.

“This is one of the most dangerous parts of our current situation,” he said. “The Armenian government is now trying to hand over the region’s so-called ‘prosperity’ to Turkey. If a couple of years ago talks with Turkey were only about opening borders, now — by the Armenian government’s own initiative — Turkey is also playing a growing role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace process.”

He warned that allowing Turkey — a close ally of Azerbaijan and the perpetrator of the Armenian Genocide — to mediate in negotiations is not just problematic, but devastating.

“If relations with Azerbaijan already make Armenia vulnerable, involving Turkey as a mediator only triples or quadruples that risk. This can never be in Armenia’s interest.”

Abrahamyan’s words are a clear warning: behind the language of “cooperation” and “prosperity,” Azerbaijan and Turkey are continuing a pressure campaign to gain control over Armenia’s southern lifeline — the Syunik region — by forcing a corridor that Armenians do not want and cannot afford to allow.

For the Armenian government, the diaspora, and international allies, the moment demands clarity: Will Armenia stand firm in defense of its sovereignty, or will it allow others to dictate the future of its borders under the false promise of economic development?

The Zangezur corridor debate is no longer just about roads or railways. It is about the survival of a free and independent Armenia.

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