Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has named the launch of the so called “Zangezur corridor” as a condition for opening the border with Armenia, Interfax reports.

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.

“People and cargo from Azerbaijan to Azerbaijan (via Armenia to Nakhichevan - Ed.) must pass without being checked,” Aliyev said in an interview with Azerbaijani TV channels on Wednesday, January 10. “Otherwise, Armenia will forever remain a dead end.”

“If the route I mentioned (the Zangezur corridor - Ed.) is not opened, then we do not intend to open the border with Armenia in any other place,” he noted.

“That is, in this way (if the corridor is not opened - Ed.), they will receive more harm from this than good.”