Artak Zakaryan warns of risks to Armenian interests amid Turkic States summit

Artak Zakaryan, a member of the Republican Party of Armenia and former first deputy minister of defense, has raised concerns regarding the upcoming 13th summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) scheduled for October 29–30 in Turkey.

Zakaryan notes that Ankara is increasing its information activity ahead of the summit, where logistics is expected to be a primary theme. He highlights the strategic importance of the ‘Middle Corridor’ and the TRiPP route, which aims to connect China, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, Turkey, and Europe.

According to Zakaryan, Turkey and Azerbaijan share a goal of creating a multimodal ‘Turkic corridor’ to provide an alternative to the ‘Northern Corridor’ through Russia, which has been impacted by sanctions following the Russia-Ukraine war. He warns that Armenian interests must not be sacrificed to facilitate these Turkish-led logistical and energy-based geopolitical strategies.