According to him, there are two ways to avoid war and avoid being sidelined from regional transport communications. Armenia must decide which path it wants to follow and base its policy on it.
The first way, in Babayan’s opinion, is for Armenia to open a highway connecting Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan through Meghri, while maintaining Armenian sovereignty over this road. “However, this will cause problems with Iran. Tehran believes that the opening of the road will reduce its influence on Azerbaijan. Currently, Baku has access to Nakhchivan through Iran,” Babayan said in an interview with the Armenian service of Radio Liberty.
He stated that the project of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, “Crossroads of Peace,” will lead to war rather than peace in the region.
It should be noted that according to Pashinyan’s project, Armenia opens transport communications connecting Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan, applying its own customs and border control, and simultaneously gains transit communication from the territory of Azerbaijan with Iran and Russia.
Although Pashinyan’s project was supported by the West, none of the regional countries, including Turkey and Russia, showed interest in it. The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, recently stated that Pashinyan’s “Crossroads of Peace” project cannot replace the road through Meghri, i.e., the “Zangezur Corridor.” (According to the tripartite statement of November 10, 2020, the control of transport communications connecting Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan should be carried out by Russian border guards).
Samvel Babayan explained why Pashinyan’s “Crossroads of Peace” project will lead to war, not peace, stating that this year Turkey announced a tender for the construction of a 220-kilometer railway and highway to the border with Nakhchivan. Azerbaijan has restored transport communications to the border with Russia, and Russia, in turn, built a new highway to the border with Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, in Azerbaijan, the construction of the Goradiz-Agband railway and highway is being completed. Yerevan, however, is unwilling to open the road through Meghri. It offers Azerbaijan roads through Kafan, Sisian, Zod, or Dilijan for communication with Nakhchivan.
“Azerbaijan is already continuing the construction of these roads, ignoring our position. Turkey has increased its military budget from 17 billion dollars to 43 billion dollars, and Azerbaijan has raised military spending to 6 billion manats.
“There is no peace on the horizon, and we are moving towards war,” added Babayan.
He recalled that the assistant to the president of Azerbaijan proposed a “Kaliningrad” option for travel to Nakhchivan. This is one of the options for unhindered passage.
According to Babayan, Armenia can reduce Iran’s influence on Nakhchivan by conceding to Azerbaijan on the road through Meghri. However, Babayan reminded that Iran declared the opening of this road a red line and made its position clear to the political leadership of Armenia.
The next step, in Samvel Babayan’s opinion, is not to offend Iran and to refuse to provide this road, but in this case, it is necessary to strengthen the army and deepen cooperation with Tehran and Moscow.
“There are two paths: the West wants this, the East… and, without going against our neighbors, without going against the interests of the ally, requires this one step. There is no third, the third is the Crossroads of Peace, which leads to war, will lead to a regional war, and Iran and Russia will be involved, whether they want it or not,” Babayan said.
