Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has claimed that the opening of the “Zangezur corridor” – a corridor through the territory of Armenia – is “inevitable”, Interfax.az reports.

“Every time we meet (with the President of Turkey - IF), we discuss transport issues. In the current geopolitical conditions, the importance of the Middle Corridor is growing even more. The volume of cargo transportation through the Caspian Sea, further through the territory of Azerbaijan is increasing every year and will continue to increase. Therefore, we in Azerbaijan are expanding our transport and logistics capabilities,” Aliyev said in Baku on Tuesday, June 13, making a statement to the press following talks with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to him, at today's talks, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey exchanged views on the “early opening of the Zangezur corridor”. “The opening of the Zangezur corridor is inevitable. The sooner it opens, the better. In any case, we will increase our efforts in this direction. The opening of this corridor will create new opportunities for all countries and will positively affect business cooperation in the region,” Aliyev added.

Azerbaijan and Turkey have on multiple occasions raised the question about the Zangezur "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.