Crossroads of Peace project can become part of Middle Corridor, Pashinyan tells world leaders at UN General Assembly

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian government’s Crossroads of Peace project is aimed at a peaceful future, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly in New York City. 

PM Pashinyan said that the purpose of the project is not only to open automobile routes, railroads, and other transport communications between Armenia and Azerbaijan, but also to provide communication between Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkiye and the whole region, as well as to create opportunities for the passage of pipelines and cables and eventually, provide opportunities for people-to-people contacts, which is a key and critical factor for peacemaking.

“A key factor for peace and development is also that all this shall happen with due respect for the sovereignty, jurisdiction, territorial integrity of the countries, on the basis of the principles of equality and reciprocity, and we are ready to open our transport communications to both Azerbaijan and Turkyie, as well as to our other neighbors and partners. And we are ready to do it even today. Right today.By the way, the Crossroads of Peace can become a part of the Middle Corridor, ensuring greater speed and efficiency of the passage of goods through it,” the Armenian Premier said, adding that Armenia is ready to fully ensure the safety of the passage of cargo, vehicles and people on its territory.

“It is our wish; our commitment and we can do it. By the way, all those claims that Armenia has agreed somewhere, in some document, that third forces shall provide the security of communications on its territory, are simply distortion of reality,” he said.

“Armenia's commitment is clear: to guarantee the safety of cargo, vehicles and people on its territory and we guarantee it. Today I don't want to send any negative, worrying or pessimistic message, not because they do not exist, but because the Armenian proverb says: “Let us speak the positive, in order to be well”, meaning that when you speak positive, good things tend to become reality. It may be that there is a similar saying in Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Iran, Georgia, and in other countries in the world, and they all consider it their own. But “Let us speak the positive, in order to be well”, is not about saying empty words. Of course one should work hard and sometimes make hard decisions. In my speech, I laid out all the circumstances that give me a reason to speak the positive, to be well in front of this distinguished audience. And if we rely on these circumstances, good things will happen, initiating a process of reducing the circumstances that generate the negative. Thank you,” PM Pashinyan said.