"I did not come to the Ordubad railway station by chance. This visit has a great symbolic significance. I recently visited the railway station the Armenians destroyed in Minjivan settlement about 50-60 kilometers away from here. There is no railway there now. The contemptible enemy has destroyed and looted the entire railway infrastructure. There will be a center there and a center here. There is only a 40-kilometer Zangazur corridor separating Zangilan from Nakhchivan, which must and will be opened," President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said in an interview by the Azerbaijan Television as part of his visit to the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, on May 10, APA reports.
"As you know, this is reflected in the joint declaration signed on 10 November. Since then, very serious steps have been taken in this regard at the meetings of the working group at the level of deputy prime ministers of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia. I can say with full confidence that the railway corridor will be opened. Let no-one have any doubts about that. Of course, Azerbaijan will fulfill its responsibilities. As you know, I laid the foundation stone of the Horadiz-Aghband railway. The missing 15-16-kilometersection will be built here – from Ordubad to the Armenian border. The Nakhchivan railway is in operation, as both passenger and cargo transportation is carried out. In other words, the entire infrastructure on the territory of Azerbaijan will be created after the construction of the Horadiz-Aghband railway.
As for the section of the railway in the territory of Armenia, as you know, there is no such thing as Armenian railways. Armenian railways are owned by Russian railways. This means that Armenian railways belong to them. Therefore, we are discussing this issue mainly with the Russian side. Our next historic achievement will be to connect Zangilan, located in the Eastern Zangazur region, with our ancient lands of Western Zangazur and then with Nakhchivan and Turkey through Ordubad. I am sure that this will happen – I have no doubt about that. I want to say again that Azerbaijan will fulfill its responsibilities and do its best to ensure that there are no problems with the implementation of this project," said Azerbaijani President Mr. Aliyev.