Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway`s capacity indicators demonstrate real  potential of extraterritorial corridor through Syunik - expert 

ArmInfo.  The indicators of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) railway are important when extrapolating them to assess the potential of the extraterritorial corridor through  Syunik.  This is written by political scientist Vahe Davtyan.

In this regard, he drew attention to the fact that 250 thousand tons  of cargo were transported via the BTK railway in the first 7 months  of this year, and according to him, this figure is expected to exceed  only 500 thousand tons by the end of the year. "And this is with a  throughput capacity of 6.5 million tons," the expert noted.

Davtyan noted that such indicators create justified skepticism  regarding the assessments of the transportation potential of the  extraterritorial corridor voiced by Azerbaijani President Ilham  Aliyev at a recent media forum. "BTK is operated in incomparably more  stable and geopolitically predictable conditions. And even despite  this, Turkish-Azerbaijani transportation carried out along this  highway, as we see, leaves much to be desired," the political  scientist noted.

According to him, such indicators prove the previously voiced  conclusions regarding the real goals of the corridor. Davtyan is  confident that its opening does not boil down to the diversification  of trade routes, since otherwise, according to him, Ankara and Baku  would have agreed to the "Arak Corridor" proposed by Tehran.

"From here it becomes clear that the real goal of the so-called  "Zangezur corridor" is the consistent militarization of Nakhichevan,  the formation of an anti-Iranian bridgehead in the South Caucasus,  the paralysis of the Caucasian section of the North-South ITC, and  the subsequent expulsion of Russia from the region. The anti-Russian  axis being formed in the South Caucasus more than fits into this  goal-setting," the political scientist summed up.

Recall that the Meghri route is a project for a transport route about  40 km long through the territory of the Syunik region of Armenia,  which would provide transport links between the western regions of  Azerbaijan and its exclave, the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic. The  opening of transport routes in the region was envisaged by paragraph  9 of the trilateral statement of November 9, 2020 by the leaders of  Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, Azerbaijan is trying to  distort the essence of these agreements and get an extraterritorial  corridor.