Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that "the Zangezur transport corridor is becoming a reality".

Aliyev made the remarks in Ashgabat during the 15th summit of the leaders of the member states of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), which was also attended by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"This new transport infrastructure will become an important part of the East-West and North-South corridors," Aliyev said.

At the same time, he expressed confidence that "the ECO countries will make use of the opportunities of the Zangezur corridor."

The Azerbaijani side has on multiple occasions spoken about a so-called "corridor" through the southern Armenian province of Syunik that would connect Nakhijevan to the rest of Azerbaijan. The Armenian side, however, has repeatedly denied being involved in negotiations for the provision of a corridor to Azerbaijan, stressing that they have only agreed to unblock transport communications in the region.