The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Thomas Barrack, revealed on July 11 that Washington offered a 100-year lease on the would-be transport link in a bid to facilitate a peace deal between the two South Caucasus nations. Pashinian’s press secretary, Nazeli Baghdasarian, ruled out such a possibility on July 14, arguing that Armenian law allows only the lease of agricultural land for farming or grazing purposes.
However, Pashinian seemed open to the idea when he commented on it during a news conference held two days later.
“Under our legislation … this is called a construction permit,” he said. “And under certain conditions, investments granted under this right to build remain or become the property of the Republic of Armenia after the expiration of a contract.”
Arman Yeghoyan, the pro-government chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on European integration, raised more questions about Yerevan’s stance in an interview with Factor.am late on Thursday.
“The Americans had such an idea but it was not acceptable to us … because we saw a danger of ceding our sovereignty there,” Yeghoyan said, adding that it is therefore not on the agenda of Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations.
The proposed lease is understood to be part of a U.S. proposal to have an American company run the transport corridor to Nakhichevan passing through Armenia’s strategic Syunik region. Pashinian, who met with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on July 10, indicated on July 16 that he is ready to agree to such an arrangement.
Armenian opposition groups have expressed serious concern over the U.S. proposal. They say it would undermine Armenian sovereignty over Syunik, the only Armenian province bordering Iran.
Aliyev again demanded late last week that the transit of people and cargo through Syunik be exempt from Armenian border controls. Pashinian’s spokeswoman rejected the demand on Monday, calling it a “hidden territorial claim against Armenia.”
Opposition leaders downplayed her reaction. They stood by their claims that Pashinian has agreed to open an extraterritorial land corridor for Azerbaijan.
