PM Pashinyan presents Crossroads of Peace project at inaugural Yerevan Dialogue

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 10, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has presented his administration’s Crossroads of Peace project at the Yerevan Dialogue forum.

“Crossroads of Peace project envisages the opening of regional connections, that is, railway, roads, possible cables and gas pipelines, power transmission lines and other connections not only between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but it is assumed that such developments should take place also between Armenia and Turkiye,” Pashinyan said at the forum.

“Of course the Crossroads of Peace project is important for us because, among others, in case of implementation we gain the possibility to have railway connection with Iran, with whom our relations are very important for us, we will have the possibility to have railway connection with Turkiye, with Europe, with Russia. Of course, Azerbaijan will have the possibility to have railway connection through Armenia’s territory with Turkiye and Iran, and of course, the establishment of automobile and railway connection between Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan proper through Armenia’s territory is also important. We are ready to provide such connection, but we must record that today Nakhchivan is not deprived of transport connections because it has the chance to establish connection with the outside world through Iranian and Turkish territories.”

Armenia is ready to implement the project, including to provide connection for Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, at any moment, Pashinyan reiterated.

“What’s hindering this process? What’s hindering is that seemingly not all of our partners are inclined to make use of the possibilities offered by us. There’s been a lot of debate to what extent Crossroads of Peace project is in line with the logic of the 2020 November 9 trilateral statement. Such debates have intensified lately, in an attempt to misrepresent that the trilateral statement implies third party security control over these connections in Armenian territory. This perception has nothing to do with reality,” Pashinyan said.

He quoted article 9 of the trilateral statement, which clearly stipulates that Armenia will ensure security of the connection. “The Republic of Armenia shall guarantee the security of transport connections between the western regions of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic in order to arrange unobstructed movement of persons, vehicles and cargo in both directions,” reads an excerpt of the article.

“This is an open and public text, and it couldn’t have been in any other way, because it would be illogical for some other country to ensure security in the territory of a sovereign country,” Pashinyan added. 

“There’s no provision or article that would mean that Armenia would somehow limit its jurisdiction in its sovereign territory, in terms of customs control, phytosanitary or any other control. There are no such terms,” Pashinyan added.

Pashinyan has repeatedly stated that providing the Azerbaijan proper-Nakhchivan connection does not imply any extraterritoriality: Armenia must maintain sovereignty over the connection.