Nakhijevan Will Move Under Armenian Control
Naira Hayrumyan, Political Commentator
Comments – 11 April 2015, 17:41
Apparently, Turkey is ready to sell its geopolitical place to Iran
which is preparing for the lifting of international sanctions. The
international centers think that in case of an agreement between Iran
and the West Iran and Turkey will “swap”.
The Turkish minister of energy has announced that in case of an
attractive proposal Turkey may sell part of the Trans-Anatolian
Natural Gas Pipeline.
The Azerbaijani mass media wrote that Iran will most probably buy the
pipeline which will transport gas to Europe. Baku has also realized
that if Iran buys the pipeline, it will be filled with its gas, not
the Azerbaijani gas, as envisaged by the TANAP project.
The Iran-West agreement has not been signed yet but there are major
moves which will result in a change of status quo. The deal with Iran
will end the Russian-Turkish alliance which has been ruling in the
region for already 100 years. Iran’s “return” is significant in this
respect, and the other issues – energy, communication, conflicts –
will be resolved on the basis of the new geopolitical setting.
If Iran succeeds returning its own positions and put an end to the
dominance of Russia and Turkey, Armenia will appear in a totally new
geopolitical setting. It will have a different configuration and
different priorities.
In particular, in the past one hundred years the Russian-Turkish
alliance has isolated Armenia and used it to cork up the region.
Iran’s return may change Armenia’s role.
The Armenian government has announced that Armenia will become part of
the Big Silk Way because Iran will prefer working with Armenia, not
Azerbaijan. This is good but it is no secret that the Iranian-Armenian
road transportation cannot be complete without “opening” Nakhijevan.
The shortest and cheapest roads pass across Nakhijevan.
Iran does not care how Armenia intends to “open” Nakhijevan. It is
possible to agree with Azerbaijan or take diplomatic or other actions
to return this territory under the control of Armenia. Nakhijevan is
Azerbaijan’s protectorate according to the Russian-Turkish treaties,
and revocation of those treaties will change a lot in the region.
Changes in the region are a global demand, and they will take place by
all means. Turkey is already preparing to sell part of the gas
pipeline to Iran to buy Iranian gas which is cheaper than the Russian
gas. In the meantime, Armenia is defending the Russian-Turkish
alliance with its teeth.