The inconvenient truth: who actually owns the road through Meghri

At a meeting with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg, Nikol Pashinyan told the Russian leader about the negotiations with the United States on TRIPP. Pashinyan said that "bilateral negotiations with the United States are currently underway in a very constructive way regarding the start of the implementation and construction of the TRIPP road, and these are really very big and meaningful changes in our region." At the same time, the Armenian Prime minister added that "there are many nuances" concerning the bilateral relations between Armenia and Russia, and it would be necessary to discuss all this.

What nuances did Nikol Pashinyan talk about? Probably about those that the Russian side recently reminded Yerevan about.

Mikhail Kalugin, Director of the 4th CIS Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, recently expressed the view that if the subsidiary of Russian Railways, the Southern Railway, has the concession right to manage the railways of Armenia, then the future "Trump Route" should also be considered in this logic. In addition, Kalugin recalled, TRIPP will pass most of the software through the area of responsibility of the Russian border guards. H2, and we should not forget that Armenia is a member of the EAEU, and it is obvious that the parties to this project cannot do without Russia.

If you do not take into account one really significant nuance, which we will discuss below, then the words of the Russian official contain logic. Indeed, the railways of Armenia are managed by the Southern Railway, and only this company has had the right to manage the railway network of this country since 2008. This right is given to the "daughter" of Russian Railways for thirty years with the possibility of extension. When signing the concession agreement, Yerevan did not think that the day would come when everything would change so much that Armenia would try to get rid of the status of an outpost. This status provided the Armenian side with certain preferences, including guaranteeing the preservation of the status quo in the Karabakh conflict. However, despite all the changes, the agreement exists, and if it is not terminated, the parties must follow it.

After coming to power, Nikol Pashinyan made an attempt to put an end to the Russian monopoly. At the end of 2018, an investigation into the activities of SSR was launched, searches were conducted at the company's offices, and documents were seized. It was stated that the company is suspected of embezzling $ 60 million. Four criminal cases were initiated against the SSR - two by the State Revenue Committee, one each by the Investigative Committee and the National Security Service. In addition, the government was dissatisfied with the level of modernization that the SSR undertook under the agreement. In turn, the Russian side countered with the fact that the existing railway network in the country does not require expansion, as it is not in demand by the population. The country is small, the population is insignificant, and the terrain is unsuitable for railway construction. In the end, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation started talking about the possibility of Russian Railways leaving Armenia. However, after all the twists and turns, the situation has calmed down, and the SSR continues to retain the concession right to the Armenian railway.

Theoretically, Armenia can terminate the agreement with Russian Railways, but this is a complex legal process that entails possible financial and legal consequences. For example, Armenia may be obliged to pay compensation to Russian Railways, cover losses or the purchase price of assets. Etc.

Given all this, Yerevan cannot simply ignore the Russian presence on the railway and on the border. In order to start work on the Meghri section of the Zangezur corridor, Russia must transfer the concession right to it to Armenia. Pashinyan understands this himself. He was just talking about this to journalists the other day, however, regarding other roads. These are roads that Armenia needs, but Azerbaijan does not need. And since Azerbaijan does not need them, their restoration, in principle, makes no sense, as they will run into a dead end. We are talking about the Hrazdan-Dilijan-Ijevan-Gazakh road and the road to the border with Turkiye. Pashinyan appealed to the concessionaire to restore them as quickly as possible. Since the SCR did not show much enthusiasm, the Armenian Prime Minister announced that Armenia was ready to withdraw these sections from Russian concession management and restore them at its own expense. In other words, Yerevan understands the concession right of the Russian Railways subsidiary.

But there is one more nuance, which is very important. The fact is that the Meghri Railway connecting mainland Azerbaijan with Nakhchivan has never been operated by Armenian Railways. It was and is the property not of Armenia or Russia, but of the Azerbaijani Railways. The Meghri railway station is still listed as belonging to AZHD.

A few days ago, Armenian users shared a video from the destroyed Meghri station on social networks. The video proudly stated that the Armenians did not allow the Azerbaijanis to erect a monument to Azizbekov in front of the station, overnight dragging a bust of Shahumyan from a nearby mine and placing it on a pedestal. Hatred of Azerbaijanis has always lived in the Armenian society. In the 70s, at the height of the peoples' friendship, nationalists also very carefully ensured that no monuments to Azerbaijanis appeared on the territory of the Armenian SSR.

The notorious provocateur Lapshin, visiting the Megri station in 2019, took these photos, not suspecting what kind of service he would do us. No one could have imagined then that the issue of the road through Meghri would return to the agenda.

The video caused outrage among nationalists, who did not like the fact that the Azerbaijanis were going to erect their monument on the territory of Armenia. By what right? - they were indignant. But it turns out that there is a right. The fact is that the Meghri station was the property of Azerbaijan. The station was opened on a railway owned by AZD, with Azerbaijani money, and the government of the republic, as the owner, planned to erect a monument to Meshadi Azizbekov there. Western Zangezur, even after several deportations and purges, was still an Azerbaijani-populated region, which served as a source of constant concern and fury for nationalists concerned about perceived threats to their "identity." Therefore, upon learning about Baku's plans, the Armenians immediately welded Shahumyan's head and placed it on a pedestal under cover of night. Of course, no one had to answer for arbitrariness. Styopa's head was smashed in 1993, and the debris lying on the ground was so unrecognizable that Russian bloggers who visited this "epic corner" of Armenia before the war kept getting confused between Shahumyan and Kamo. It is impossible to blame the Azerbaijanis for this, since they were expelled from Zangezur even before the Meghri road ceased to function.

The railway through Meghri did not belong to Armenia because there was no such thing as Armenian Railways before 1991. All roads in Irevan and other provinces were built before the toponym Armenia appeared on the map of the region, and in Soviet times the railway network of the Armenian SSR, with the exception of the Meghri road, was operated by the Transcaucasian Railway. So, by and large, nothing new happened in 2008. During the years of self-government - from 1991 to 2008 - the railway network of the newly independent country fell into complete disrepair, and the concession management of Russian Railways returned everything to its usual places.

Meanwhile, the Azerbaijan Railway gained independence during the ADR. And then in 1955, the AJD received the status of an independent railway within the USSR Ministry of Highways. And it remained so until the collapse of the Soviet Union, preserving its rights.

It can be learned from open sources that the line through Meghri, "served by the Azerbaijani Railway, did not transfer to the Armenian Railway, as it was closed and liquidated in November 1989 in connection with the Karabakh conflict." But this is the traditional lie of Wikipedia. The road through Meghri was closed not in 1989, but after the collapse of the USSR and the outbreak of the First Karabakh War. The last train passed through Meghri in April 1992.

Until 2008, Armenia's railways remained virtually unattended. However, as well as all the infrastructure inherited from the past. The republic itself, accustomed to living at the expense of others and unable to do on its own, was engaged in destroying what was built during the Soviet era. Armenian media indicate that by 2003, the railway section from Kapan to Meghri had been dismantled, and about 70 wagons and dismantled tracks were handed over, or rather, sold for scrap to Iran. Nikol Pashinyan's government has initiated an investigation into these facts. It turned out that the vandalism was carried out with the permission and with the participation of the Ministry of Defense. The road was dismantled not by some random vandals, but by the authorities on the direct instructions of Robert Kocharyan. The targeted dismantling and sale of 40 kilometers of tracks to Iran took only a year. To break is not to build. The sale was handled by the National Security Service.

As a result, property belonging to Azerbaijan was destroyed and sold.

In short, the Zangezur corridor, TRIPP, or whatever you want to call it, is a project that cannot fail to take into account the interests of Azerbaijan as the legal successor of this line. It continues to be a part of the Azerbaijani Railways, even if someone does not like it. There were no documents on the transfer of control to the Armenian side, and no negotiations were conducted. These facts should be taken into account not only by the neighbors, but also by the concession campaign that manages the Armenian railways today.

If Yerevan is talking about long-term peace now, it should not forget about it. The Armenian side destroyed this road itself, and it must rebuild it itself, taking into account, among other things, Azerbaijani interests. Armenia owes Azerbaijan more than the value of its entire economy during the thirty years of occupation. This does not mean that Baku claims the internationally recognized territory of its neighbor or wants more than it can give. It's just that Yerevan, its American partners, and its Russian concessionaires should not forget that Azerbaijan is not just one of the countries that will use communications through Meghri, strictly following Armenian laws. This is a country that has much more rights in this project than anyone else.