Turkey accuses Iran of blocking Zangazur corridor

Iran is the main obstacle in issue of opening Zangazur corridor, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said while speaking to reporters during an interview on his return from his visit to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Azerbaijan.

Erdogan stressed that Azerbaijan and Iran are countries where the majority of the population are Muslims. "It is about Iran. Iran’s stance has upset us and Azerbaijan. Iran should be worried," he noted.

"If they approached this positively, today Türkiye, Azerbaijan, and Iran would be integrated with each other, both by road and by rail, and perhaps a Beijing-London line would be opened," the Turkish head of state said.

The Turkish president also touched upon the tensions between Baku and Yerevan, saying: "With the signing of the peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, our region will attain much more prosperous conditions."

Erdogan also thanked Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan for his visit to Ankara. "Especially Pashinyan accepting our invitation was an important step. In other words, at this point Pashinyan accepted our invitation by overcoming many obstacles, including opposition. We were only able to have a face-to-face meeting with Prime Minister Pashinyan at this ceremony. In this quick meeting, we expressed our gratitude for his response to this invitation," the Turkish leader said.

He noted that the recognition of Karabakh as the territory of Azerbaijan by Pashinyan is an important point. "The attitude towards Pashinyan in Armenia is also extremely important. Pashinyan has not yet stepped back on this issue," Erdogan added.

He added that efforts are undertaken to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS).

"As Türkiye and Azerbaijan, we enjoy a strategic location between the east and the west. Befitting our brotherhood, our cooperation in all areas, including trade, energy, defense industry and transportation, will further deepen," Erdoğan concluded.