News - Zangezur is crucial route for north-south and east-west directions, Thomas de Waal says

Zangezur is a crucial route for both north-south and east-west directions. Thomas de Waal, a specialist in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and a senior analyst at the Carnegie Foundation, noted this in an interview with the RFE/RL Armenian Service. Who would have believed a few years ago that you will see flags of the European Union and Iran in Kapan, Armenia,  that the French would like to open a consulate there, that the Russians are there, and that suddenly this will become the center of international competition and diplomacy, as it was in 1919 and 1920? But it's happening again, de Waal noted. And why is this happening? Well, it's a crucial route for both north-south and east-west directions. Julfa in Nakhichevan was a Soviet-Iranian railway border crossing point, it was a big border crossing point. And, of course, it was closed, and no trains have passed through it for 30 years, said the analyst. But if the railway through Armenia’s Syunik Province and Zangezur is rebuilt, then Julfa will once again become the railway crossing of Russia and Iran. So, Russia and Iran are again looking at that region. For Azerbaijan, it is the connection with Turkey, and for the West, it is also a new East-West channel through the territory of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan to Central Asia. So, all of a sudden, this small, 43-kilometer railway starts to interest everyone, added de Waal. And since the war in Ukraine has closed all these East-West connections, these East-North-South channels in the Caucasus become much more important. And Thomas de Waal assumes that this is the reason why everyone is looking in the direction of this small region in southern Armenia.