Turkey's President Erdogan discusses peace negotiations with Armenia and Azerbaijan, in talks with Prime Minister Pashinyan.
In a significant step towards sustainable peace and cooperation, Armenia and Azerbaijan have initiated a historic peace deal at the White House on Friday. The agreement, brokered by the United States, marks a major development in the long-standing conflict between the two Southern Caucasus neighbors.
The agreement includes commitments to cease hostilities, reopen transport routes, and normalize relations. Key details of the deal involve both countries pledging to relinquish all territorial claims and stop all hostilities permanently. The OSCE Minsk Group, which mediated the conflict since 1992, is to be dissolved.
A significant aspect of the deal is the creation of a strategic transit corridor called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP). This corridor runs through Armenian land to connect Azerbaijan with its exclave Nakhchivan and Turkey, bypassing Russia and Iran. The corridor is under Armenian sovereignty but will be developed by the US for infrastructure including rail, oil, gas, fiber optics, and potentially electricity for a period of 99 years.
The USA aims to curb the regional influence of Iran, Russia, and China through this corridor. However, Iran has expressed concern and opposition to foreign involvement near its borders, threatening to block the corridor due to security worries.
The peace agreement has not yet been formally signed but only initialed as of August 2025. Azerbaijan maintains military presence in parts of internationally recognized Armenian territory, and Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of holding Armenian hostages and denying the return of nearly 120,000 displaced ethnic Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). The treaty’s promises of a "just, comprehensive, and lasting peace" are considered hollow by some observers due to ongoing Azerbaijani territorial ambitions and security concerns voiced by Armenia.
Following the agreement, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey held a phone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Erdogan congratulated Pashinyan for the agreement reached with Azerbaijan and believes that this step should be transformed into concrete actions. Erdogan also noted that technical-level talks would continue to develop the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia.
The agreement follows a series of cross-border wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including most recently since 2020. The EU, Saudi Arabia, and Gulf states have welcomed the peace deal at the White House. President Aliyev, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and U.S. President Donald Trump signed the joint declaration at the trilateral summit at the White House.
Erdogan stated that the demonstrated peace will be valuable for regional peace. The peace talks are a follow-up to a recent agreement initialed at the White House. The current status of the peace negotiations is that in 2025, the two countries reached a major breakthrough by initialing a historic peace deal, but the agreement remains non-binding for now and faces unresolved issues, including territorial disputes and humanitarian concerns.
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[2] Al Jazeera. (2025). Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to peace deal at White House. [online] Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/8/azerbaijan-and-armenia-agree-to-peace-deal-at-white-house
[3] Reuters. (2025). Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to peace deal at White House. [online] Available at: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/azerbaijan-armenia-agree-peace-deal-white-house-2025-08-08/
[4] The Guardian. (2025). Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal: is it a lasting solution or a hollow victory?. [online] Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/aug/10/armenia-azerbaijan-peace-deal-is-it-a-lasting-solution-or-a-hollow-victory
[5] The Washington Post. (2025). Azerbaijan-Armenia peace deal: what's in the agreement?. [online] Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/azerbaijan-armenia-peace-deal-whats-in-the-agreement/2025/08/08/8b8e472c-87c7-11ed-9e1c-5f2d31b4112b_story.html
- Despite the historic peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan, some observers consider the treaty's promises of a 'just, comprehensive, and lasting peace' as hollow, due to ongoing territorial ambitions from Azerbaijan and ongoing security concerns voiced by Armenia.
- The USA, through the creation of the strategic transit corridor named the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), aims to curb the regional influence of Iran, Russia, and China, but Iran has expressed concern and opposition to foreign involvement near its borders, threatening to block the corridor due to security worries.
- Following the initiation of the historic peace deal, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope that the peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan would be transformative, and he additionally noted that technical-level talks would continue to develop the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia.
