Akram Zeynalli: New safe land corridor created between East and West

“Last month, the Caucasus conflict came to an end, following an internationally brokered peace settlement that offers close to a million citizens of Azerbaijan the chance to return home to Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions, they were forced to flee a generation ago. While under international law, Azerbaijan’s ownership of these lands was never in doubt, and the return of them to Azerbaijani control now opens them up to the world – and to China.”

Report states, citing foreign media, that Azerbaijani Ambassador to China Akram Zeynalli said.

“Not only that, but these provide – for both our countries – a new safe land corridor linking the East to the West. Transiting directly across the Caucasus will cut road transportation time from weeks and months to mere days. This opportunity to open up and speed trade and business did not exist even two months ago,” he added.

“Thanks to this peace dividend, there will now be a cross-country route that passes from Baku port on the Caspian Sea coast. Through newly liberated territories, and – crucially – through a soon-to-be-opened transport corridor arrives at Nakhchivan, the autonomous enclave of Azerbaijan. The line then continues directly into and through Turkey and onto the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

“Never before has there been an opportunity in the Caucasus for such a corridor facilitating trade and peace between East and West. Notably, it will create a direct road transportation route from China to Europe and vice-versa through Azerbaijan – and will complement the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway opened in 2017. This rail link alone has reduced the transit time of goods between China and Western Europe from over a month to merely 15 days. The addition of a new and even a shorter road link will create further opportunities for trade within the Belt and Road Initiative, of which Azerbaijan was an early supporter.

“This peace also makes other planned infrastructure development possible. The repopulation of what amounts to some 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s sovereign territory will be an immense task when it has been scattered with ghost towns for some 30 years, and tens of thousands of homes that once stood there are today little more than rubble. Landmines and unexploded ordnance need to be cleared, new homes must be built, water, electricity, gas, and telecommunications infrastructure laid – along with new roads made, streets paved, offices and factories built, schools established, and places of worship reconstructed and renovated,” the ambassador mentioned.