Azerbaijan-Armenia peace treaty to lay groundwork for opening Zangezur corridor - Turkish intelligence chief

BAKU. Sept 17 (Interfax) - The signing of a peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia would help open the Zangezur corridor and ensure direct transport links from Azerbaijan to Europe via Turkey, Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) Director Ibrahim Kalin said at a security forum in Baku on Tuesday.

"A peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia will primarily prompt the development of the entire South Caucasus region. It will also help open the Zangezur corridor. This would subsequently ensure a direct transport route from Azerbaijan to Europe via Armenia, the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan, and Turkey," Anadolu Agency quoted Kalim as saying.

In early August, Armenia and Azerbaijan removed the provision on unblocking regional transport links from the draft peace treaty. "Noting that the provision concerning regional transport links has been removed from the draft peace treaty at mutual consent, we must stress that their effective unblocking remains an important element of Armenia's vision and the agenda it promotes to secure peace and economic development in the region," Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said at the time.

Azerbaijani presidential special envoy Elchin Amirbayov said at the time that Yerevan and Baku decided at mutual consent to remove the draft peace treaty provision concerning the Zangezur corridor, which is supposed to link mainland Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic via Armenia, and address the matter at a later stage.