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Armenia's Syunik Province is extremely important for Turkey and all the Turkic-speaking peoples, as it was the case 100 years ago, former Armenian Prime Minister Vazgen Manukyan told journalists before the Lazarev Club meeting in Yerevan on Friday.

According to him, Syunik is the “tidbit Turkey wants to get its hands on”.

"In some cases, it can limit its demands to a corridor, thinking that sooner or later the corridor will turn into a big territory, i.e. it will gain all of Syunik,” the politician said.

“Turkey's interest here is extremely high. It is also to some extent beneficial for Russia to deploy its troops in Syunik. Some rumors suggest that Russia wants to take control of this corridor. This is a compromise, but mostly in Turkey's interest. Russia is playing, but Turkey is not. Turkey is highly interested in gaining Syunik, but in the beginning its demands have to be limited to a corridor," Manukyan stressed.

He believes Armenia should not agree to the opening of a road linking Azerbaijan to Nakhichevan through its territory.

"If I were to decide, I would not even open the road. Armenia is completely blocked, and the whole dispute is about an overland link between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan through Syunik. All roads should open simultaneously and be under the sovereignty of the countries they pass through,” Manukyan added.