The Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) has been one of the most discussed topics in recent weeks. However, there is a significant issue with terminology as Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev persistently calls it the “Zangezur corridor.” In his speech at the UN General Assembly’s 80th session Aliyev said that the August 8 Washington summit’s key outcome was TRIPP which will “ensure unimpeded access through the Zangezur corridor and foster regional connectivity.” In response, just two days later, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed this in his speech, stressing that such an expression does not exist in the documents agreed in Washington and the use of such term in Armenian reality “is perceived as a territorial claim from Armenia and is associated with conflict discourse.”
According to the prime minister’s spokesperson Nazeli Baghdasaryan, the problem of the term’s usage was also discussed during the October 2 meeting between Pashinyan and Aliyev in Copenhagen on the sidelines of the European Political Community Summit. The official statement did not provide much information, with both Armenian and Azerbaijani sides posting the exact same text.
However, Aliyev continued with the “Zangezur corridor” narrative. During the Summit of the Organization of the Turkic States Aliyev once again spoke of the opening of the “Zangezur Corridor” and it was also included in the text of declaration of the summit: “Express support to the ongoing efforts by the member states to operationalize and to develop the Zangezur Corridor.”
After this, the Armenian prime minister’s spokesperson said that the “narrative presented by the president of Azerbaijan cannot in any way pertain to the territory of the Republic of Armenia.” and the only projects pertaining to the territory of Armenia are TRIPP and the Crossroads of Peace. Thus, this terminology has led to a diplomatic pingpong match between Aliyev and Armenian officials.
While there is a debate as to what actually is going to pass through Armenian territory, President Donald Trump in his discussions often refers to the Washington meetings and accords, claiming he resolved the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. One recent mention was during Trump’s meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, where the latter called Trump a transformative president. The normalization of Armenian-Azerbaijani relations was supposedly one of these transformations.
