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Opposition politician Eduard Sharmazanov has warned that Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s fresh threats against Armenia should serve as a “wake-up call” for all Armenians, calling for national consolidation to counter the security challenges facing the country.

In a televised interview on Tuesday, Aliyev reiterated his plans to open a land corridor through Armenia to Nakhichevan.

“The Zangezur corridor must and will be opened. The sooner they understand it, the better,” Aliyev said, warning that Armenia should not “act as a geographical barrier between Turkey and Azerbaijan.”

Aliyev also accused Armenia of obstructing Baku's peace aspirations, calling the country a “fascist state.” “Fascism must be destroyed. Either the Armenian leadership will eliminate it, or we will,” he added.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Sharmazanov, a senior member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), claimed the Azeri leader essentially told Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to “destroy national forces within Armenia, which would mark the end of the county’s existence.”

“His comments revealed the hollowness of Pashinyan's “peace agenda” and “crossroads of peace” narratives, while confirming Pashinyan's role as a defender of Aliyev's interests or his ambassador,” the politician wrote.

“Aliyev's statements should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. Anyone who cares about the future of Armenia must set aside political differences for now and unite against the Azerbaijaniization of the country,” Sharmazanov added.