GATES TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Turkey has always stood by Azerbaijan both during the war and during the years of reconstruction. This was the main background of the October 26 visit of the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Azerbaijan. In general, the visit had both an important symbolic and practical meanings.

Symbolism of the visit

It was the first time when Air Force 1 of a head of a foreign state landed at the Fuzuli International Airport. The landing confirmed the international status of the airport, the decision on which was made just ten days earlier. On October 16, Prime Minister of Azerbaijan signed an order assigning the Fuzuli airport an international status. On the same day, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs was instructed to notify the relevant international organisations about the decision. While the Foreign Ministry was implementing the instruction, President Erdogan's protocol was already preparing for a visit to Azerbaijan, directly to Garabagh. This is another symbolism of the visit.

Although the airport was actually commissioned in September, the official opening ceremony with Recep Tayyip Erdogan was planned to further emphasise Turkey's involvement in the restoration of Garabagh, as well as its particular importance in expanding ties between the two countries.

The Fuzuli Airport is the air gateway to Garabagh. This large facility can find itself mentioned in the Guinness Book of Records as the world's first airport of this class built in an extremely short time. The length and width of its runway is 3000 by 60 metres. Aprons cover up to 60,000 square metres. According to realistic forecasts, routes from the Fuzuli Airport to settlements within 100-150 km will become regular and demanded within the next three to five years. The airport can simultaneously receive up to eight aircraft.

The airport, together with the roads and railways under construction in the region, will help transform the city of Fuzuli into a regional transport hub. Remarkably, the airport is designed to receive all types of cargo aircraft and has a potential to develop transport links to and from Shusha.

It’s also symbolic that, despite objective obstacles (mines, lack of necessary infrastructure, etc.), Azerbaijan is determined to ensure full physical control over the liberated territories as soon as possible and begin their comprehensive development. It is also a message to Armenia, the Armenian population, as well as to the international community, meaning that while Armenia has failed to implement a single large-scale project in the occupied territories for almost 30 years, Azerbaijan began with a bunch of such projects. Armenia neither had necessary means to do this, nor legitimate grounds, as Yerevan was largely limited by the international legal framework, preventing the appropriation of these territories.

Practical significance

By the way, after Fuzuli, President Erdogan also visited Zangilan, which is indicative of Turkey’s serious involvement in the Zangezur Corridor project. Both presidents – Ilham Aliyev and Recep T. Erdogan, also noted that the Turkish companies play leading roles in construction works, in particular in the development of road transport network. It is important for Ankara that this infrastructure serves as a reliable means of communication between Turkey and Azerbaijan to Russia and Central Asia. By strengthening its involvement in the development of this infrastructure, Ankara consolidates its essential role in the development of the region in the post-conflict period.

A striking example of such involvement was the groundbreaking ceremony of the Horadiz-Jebrayil-Zangilan-Aghbend highway along the perspective Zangezur Corridor with the participation of Turkish and Azerbaijani presidents. Works on this project began several months ago by the Turkish Kalyon RSY İnşaat Adi Ortaklığı Ticari İşletmesi, as well as by Azerbaijani companies LLC Special Purpose Road Operations No. 16 and Azvirt.

The 124km route begins in the village of Ahmedbeyli in Fuzuli and finishes at the Azerbaijani-Armenian border. According to plan, the road will pass through the Jebrayil region and will become part of the road network that makes up the Zangezur Corridor system. It is designed for the transportation of transit cargo by large-tonnage trucks, which can follow from Igdir (Turkey) through Nakhchivan (Azerbaijan), Meghri (Armenia), further through the territory of Azerbaijan, as well as in the opposite direction. It would be connected to the system of transport routes between Azerbaijan and Russia.

During the visit to the region, both presidents took part in the groundbreaking ceremony for the first phase of the construction of campus for the smart agricultural park Dost in the Aghali village of Zangilan by Turkish and Azerbaijani investors. The facility will cover 6,000 hectares to be used for breeding 10,000 heads of pedigree cattle, as well as the production of crop products and other activities. It is planned to build an integrated meat processing and packaging enterprise focused on the entire region, and agricultural warehouses with a capacity of 100,000 tons.

External background

While in Zangezur, the distinguished Turkish guest made a statement, saying that today it is more than ever possible to achieve lasting peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia and move towards the long-awaited normalisation of relations. “It is necessary to define and mutually recognise the borders. This understanding is the foundation of good-neighbourly relations,” Mr. Erdogan said.

It is important that this idea completely matches the statement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Valdai Discussion Club. According to the Russian president, the most important thing now is to resolve the situation on the border.

Mr. Putin noted that the main advantage of peace established in the region is economic development. Thus, the interests of Turkey and Russia match the interests of Azerbaijan. It is no coincidence that the Turkish president noted that "the day will come when we will be able to leave Zangezur and go to Istanbul, and the region's position as a transit logistics hub will strengthen." At the same time, he added that the development of infrastructure, road and railway networks will benefit not only Azerbaijan and Turkey, but the entire region.

Undoubtedly, with the implementation of the Zangezur corridor project, Russia will be able to establish uninterrupted railway communication not only with Azerbaijan, but also with Armenia and Turkey, as well as with Iran. This will make it possible to increase the volume of mutual trade, especially in the context of unlocking borders after the lockdown caused by the pandemic.

New transport opportunities in the region are promising for Iran as well. The railway crossing through Julfa in Nakhchivan will allow Tehran to establish direct communication not only with Armenia, but also with Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Russia. Unblocking regional communications gives Tehran an opportunity to return to traditional and more reliable means of communication without resorting to the expensive and unprofitable project to build a road section in the Armenian part of Zangezur.

Either way, it is up to Tehran to make a choice. We only propose the most effective solutions consistent with the logic dictated by the new post-conflict reality in the region.