Istanbul Declaration is framework for new transport and logistics  artery tightening ring around Armenia  - expert 

ArmInfo.The "Middle Corridor," connecting Asia with Europe and bypassing alternative geopolitical centers, is no longer a theoretical project but has become a fully functioning highway, ready to handle unprecedented volumes of freight  traffic. This is what Turkologist Angela Simonyan writes.

In this context, she analyzed the document, which, in her words, will  shape the geopolitical landscape of the South Caucasus for decades to  come.

The Turkologist noted that on June 8, 2026, the 10th anniversary  trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan,  and Georgia took place in the historic Ciragan Palace in Istanbul,  which, incidentally, was built by Armenians. "The Istanbul  Declaration, signed by Hakan Fidan, Jeyhun Bayramov, and Maka  Bochorishvili, is not a routine statement. It is the legal and  political foundation of a new regional architecture taking shape  along our borders, where large-scale economic interests and strategic  calculations are intertwined with diplomatic language, yet they also  have a very specific and alarming subtext. The connecting framework  of this new world order is formed by transport and logistics arteries  that effectively bypass Armenia and increasingly tighten the ring  around it," Simonyan said.

She noted that, with diplomatic precision, just a few days before the  Istanbul meeting, on June 2, the modernization of the  Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was officially completed in Akhalkalaki,  Georgia, a fact that was immediately reflected in the declaration.

"This is a clear signal that the Middle Corridor, connecting Asia  with Europe and bypassing alternative geopolitical centers, is no  longer a theoretical project but has become a fully functioning  highway, ready to handle unprecedented freight volumes. At the same  time, traditional oil pipelines and the Southern Gas Corridor are  being given a modern "green energy" veneer, through which Ankara and  Baku are seeking to legitimize their positions in the eyes of their  Western partners by exporting Caspian electricity, successfully  leveraging global environmental platforms such as COP31 and WUF13,"  the expert believes.

However, according to her, such large-scale economic infrastructure  projects require a reliable and impenetrable security shield, and  this is where the most dangerous layer of the declaration is  revealed.  Simonyan noted that the parties are no longer limiting  themselves to classic threats: the document prioritizes cyberattacks  and hybrid warfare, demonstrating the deepening of joint  institutional control mechanisms in the region. 

"Loud statements about the inviolability of borders and territorial  integrity, which at first glance are aimed at ensuring Georgia's  geopolitical loyalty, in fact reinforce the reality in which the  rules of the game in the South Caucasus are increasingly dictated  exclusively by the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem. For the smooth  functioning of this entire system, Ankara and Baku need only one  final detail - Armenia's final reconciliation with the created  realities, which in the text of the document is diplomatically called  "positive dynamics" in the process of normalizing relations between  Yerevan and Baku. But let's look at the situation without  rose-colored glasses. We are not talking about fair regional  coexistence, but about an organized "false peace." Calls for the  speedy signing of a peace treaty are not a guarantee of stability,  but an attempt to finally deprive Armenia of its own sovereign  political course and turn it into a silent appendage of  Turkish-Azerbaijani economic and political influence, the next act of  which, in all likelihood, is planned to be played out in Georgia in  2027. year," Simonyan concluded.