Azerbaijan published 'Zangezur Corridor' map with altered Armenian toponyms, expert warns

Azerbaijan’s state-supported cartographers have released a map of the proposed “Zangezur Corridor”, depicting a transport route through Armenia’s Syunik Province that would connect Azerbaijan with Nakhichevan.

Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan described the map as “troubling” in a social media post on Wednesday, noting that Armenian place names were Turkified and no border checkpoints were marked.

Geghamyan also referred to a recent report by Turkish news outlet OdaTV, which alleged that the Armenian leadership had agreed to hand over a 1,200-square-kilometer zone between Meghri and Kapan to joint Azerbaijani-Turkish control as part of the project. The report further alleged that a small neutral zone near the Margara border crossing could come under special Turkish administrative oversight.

While unconfirmed, Geghamyan warned that the scale of political and media activity in Azerbaijan and Turkey around the corridor reflects an “intensifying campaign” to promote its realization.

He cautioned that the narrative of the “Zangezur Corridor” is becoming a public and political demand in both countries.

"And what follows from that cannot be called peace," the expert added.