Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / The Zangezur Corridor: Armenia's Lifeline Through the Mountains
Transcript
- Lucas: So today we're looking at a place that's barely forty kilometers long — a strip of southern Armenia that's become the most contested piece of land in the Caucasus right now. The Zangezur Corridor. Luna: The one connecting Azerbaijan to its exclave Nakhchivan? Lucas: Exactly. But for Armenians, it's the lifeline that connects the rest of the country to Iran — and historically, to the Silk Road. And it's been at the center of tensions since the 2020 war. Lucas: Before we dive into the modern stuff — and I know this is early in the episode — I'll just say: if this conversation is worth a coffee to you, there's a link at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's how we keep the show ad-free and focused on the history that matters. Luna: Yeah, and it really helps. So, Zangezur — where does the name come from? Lucas: The region's old Armenian name is Syunik, and Zangezur specifically refers to the mountainous area. The name likely comes from Persian — 'zan' meaning woman and 'gez' meaning treasure, or maybe 'zang' for bell. Either way, it's been a crossroads for millennia. Luna: Because of the trade routes. Lucas: Right. The Silk Road had a major branch coming from Persia up through what is now Meghri — that's Armenia's southernmost town — and then heading north through Goris and Kapan to the rest of the Caucasus. So controlling Zangezur meant controlling access between Persia and the Black Sea. Lucas: Fast forward to the Soviet era. In 1921, the Bolsheviks and Kemalist Turkey signed the Treaty of Kars, which gave Nakhchivan to Azerbaijan as an exclave. But they left a narrow corridor — the Zangezur strip — as part of Soviet Armenia. That decision is what we're still dealing with today. Luna: So effectively, the Soviets created the problem. Lucas: Exactly. For decades it was just an internal border, but when the Soviet Union collapsed, that line became an international frontier. And during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War in the early 90s, Armenia and Azerbaijan fought fiercely over the region. The Armenian victory secured the corridor, but it also led to the displacement of the Azerbaijani population from Syunik and Artsakh. Luna: And now, after 2020, Azerbaijan wants to reopen a direct link to Nakhchivan through that corridor. Lucas: Yes. In the 2020 ceasefire agreement that ended the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War, Article 9 mentions unblocking communications. Azerbaijan interprets that as creating an extraterritorial corridor through Syunik — a kind of road or rail link that they control, not Armenia. Armenia insists it must be under its own sovereignty. Lucas: This became flashpoint in 2022. Azerbaijani forces advanced into several villages in Syunik, and there were skirmishes near the Lachin Corridor — that's the road that connects Artsakh to Armenia. By late 2022, the Lachin Corridor was blocked, creating a humanitarian crisis in Stepanakert. Luna: And Russia was supposed to be the guarantor of that corridor. Lucas: Right. Russian peacekeepers have been stationed there since 2020, but they've done little to prevent the blockade. That's led many Armenians to question the value of the alliance — and pushed Pashinyan's government to seek closer ties with the West and Iran. Lucas: In 2022, Pashinyan and Aliyev met in Brussels with European Council President Charles Michel. They agreed to recognize each other's territorial integrity — Armenia accepting Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, and Azerbaijan recognizing Armenia's borders, including Syunik. But the devil is in the details. Luna: What about the protests in Armenia? Lucas: There have been massive protests in Yerevan, led by opposition figures and the church, accusing Pashinyan of selling out. The idea of any Azerbaijani presence — even a transit corridor — in Syunik is deeply unpopular. People remember the ethnic cleansing of the 1990s and fear a repeat. Luna: It must be a tough balance for him. Lucas: Incredibly tough. On one hand, he wants to avoid another war that Armenia would likely lose. On the other, any concession on Zangezur is seen as a betrayal of the homeland. And there's also the role of Iran — Tehran has made it clear it will not tolerate any change to borders that would cut off its direct land link to Armenia. So the corridor issue is a multi-dimensional chessboard. Lucas: There's also a historical irony here. In the 1920s, the Soviets intentionally divided the region to prevent any single nationalist movement from controlling the whole area. That divide and rule strategy is now the source of a post-Soviet conflict that nobody seems able to resolve. Luna: And what about the people living in Syunik today? Lucas: They're on edge. Villages near the border have been shelled, there are constant reports of incursions. The Goris-Kapan highway — the main road through the corridor — is partly within artillery range of the Azerbaijani side. So life there is tense, and people feel abandoned by the international community. Lucas: Meanwhile, the blockade of Artsakh continues as of early 2023. So the Zangezur Corridor isn't just a line on a map — it's a lived reality of isolation, fear, and the struggle for survival. And it ties directly back to that Soviet-era decision in 1921. Luna: It makes you wonder what the people who drew those borders were thinking. Lucas: They were thinking of control, not of the people who would live there. But that's a story for another time. For now, Zangezur remains the hinge point of the South Caucasus — and maybe the place where the next war could start, or be prevented.