Pashinyan: Armenia Ready for Turkey-Azerbaijan Transit

Armenia is ready to immediately ensure the transit of cargo vehicles from Turkey to Azerbaijan and in the opposite direction. This was announced by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, on October 22 during the "Silk Road" international conference in Tbilisi, presenting the specific route and the level of readiness of the infrastructure.

This announcement followed the statement made the day before by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, in which Baku was lifting the restrictions on the transit of goods to Armenia through its territory. In his speech, Pashinyan welcomed Aliyev's move, calling it "extremely important."

In response and as a constructive step, the leader of Armenia clarified what the Armenian side is offering. "We are ready, starting from today, to ensure the transit of cargo vehicles from Turkey to Azerbaijan and from Azerbaijan to Turkey through the territory of the Republic of Armenia," he emphasized. The Prime Minister also detailed that the relevant infrastructure is already in place. "In the territory of Armenia, both the roads and the border infrastructure are ready for this, via the Margara-Yeghegnadzor-Sisian-Goris route," Pashinyan noted.

At the same time, the Prime Minister drew a clear distinction between this proposal and the issue of communication between the main territory of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. According to him, in this direction, Armenia still only has political readiness.

"Politically, we are ready to ensure transit from the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic to the main part of Azerbaijan and in the opposite direction through the territory of Armenia, but we are not yet technically ready due to the lack of infrastructure," he clarified.

The issue of railway communication was also presented with the same logic. Pashinyan reaffirmed the political readiness to provide rail transit between Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as between Turkey and Nakhichevan, but noted that the lines in those sections need repair or reconstruction.

Concluding his speech, the RA Prime Minister made an optimistic forecast regarding the solution of these technical problems. "I am convinced and be sure, these technical issues will also be resolved within two to three years," Pashinyan added.