The misfortunes of the Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians are the joy of the 460,000 inhabitants of Nakhchivan, an isolated region of 5,500 square kilometers located in western Azerbaijan. Like Nagorno-Karabakh, Nakhchivan had been living in virtual autarky because of the wars between Armenians and Azerbaijanis over the past three decades.

"The war in 2020, which led to the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh [and the forced departure of 100,000 Armenians in early October], has completely changed the regional context," explained Anar Ibrahimov, deputy chairman of the Ali Majlis (Parliament) of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, in his office. "Nakhchivan can now move forward and emerge from the blockade to which it had been subjected for 30 years by the Armenians," said Ibrahimov, a tall man with glasses and a mustache, standing up straight beneath the double portrait of the last two presidents of Azerbaijan since the proclamation of independence in 1991: the father, Heydar Aliyev, 1993-2003, and his son, Ilham. The latter, dressed in camouflage, visited Nagorno-Karabakh for the first time on October 15, trampling on the flag of the Armenian separatists for the cameras of state television. It was 20 years to the day after inheriting power from his father.

The rugged landscape of the South Caucasus had made Nakhchivan a natural corridor linking Yerevan to Baku and Teheran. But politics in its most detestable form transformed it into an exclave – a territory under the sovereignty of a nation from which it is separated by a country or a body of water. It is cut off from Azerbaijan to the north and east by a mountain range belonging to the Armenian enemy, known as Zangezur. On its southwestern flank, the Aras River forms the border with Iran, a neighbor with which Baku maintains a checkered relationship. The only land route linking Nakhichevan to the rest of Azerbaijan ran through Iran, making a detour of several hundred kilometers to avoid skirting the Armenian border. Teheran cut off this route at the time of the 2020 war.

What Ibrahimov, who built his entire career within the ruling party, did not say is that its former leader, Vasif Talibov, former chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, had himself played a major role in locking down the region. Ismaïl, a local businessman who asked to remain anonymous, explained, "Talibov controlled everything, ran everything and immediately repressed anyone who resisted him. No one moved a finger without his authorization. Heydar Aliyev, with whom he was related, gave him Nakhchivan as a personal fiefdom. Baku quickly lost all authority here. Talibov took great pleasure in dictating his own laws, for example imposing uniforms for schoolchildren and prohibiting the purchase of cars in Azerbaijan."

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