The importance of “Trump's Corridor” for Central Asia

The disputed 40 kilometres between the Azerbaijani border and the Nakhchivan enclave through Armenian territory are of fundamental importance for the entire region. The Corridor will not only reunite Azerbaijani territories through Armenia, but will also significantly shorten the entire Eurasian and Trans-Caspian Corridor route, which is essential for transport that must avoid sanctions against Russia.

Baku (AsiaNews) - On 8 August, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Nikol Pašinyan and Ilham Aliev, signed a document in Washington for the ‘parafinazzione’, meaning the finalisation of the peace agreement between the two countries, which has yet to be signed.

The main content actually concerns the opening of the ‘Zangezur Corridor’, a term that is unpalatable to Armenians as it is of Azerbaijani origin, to indicate transit between the Azerbaijani borders and the enclave of Nakhchivan through Armenian territory. Pašinyan prefers to call it the “Corridor for Peace and Development” (Tripp), and for the sake of clarity, it has now been defined as the “Trump Corridor”, whose reactivation is to be coordinated by American entrepreneurs.

A stretch of road just over 40 kilometres long could therefore permanently change the landscape of relations not only between the two countries in centuries-old conflict on the borders of Europe, and between Christians and Muslims, but also across the Caucasus and Central Asia, all the way to the routes to the Middle East and the Mediterranean, earning it a further definition as the “Eurasia Corridor”, as stated by experts interviewed by Azattyk Asia.

Commercial transport drivers in Kyrgyzstan, eager to cross the route connecting them to their destinations, say they have learned a few Chinese words to communicate across all latitudes from east to west.

The motorway under construction around the Kyrgyz village of Koš-Dobo will cross Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan on its way to Turkmenistan, parallel to the one already open in Kazakhstan, and Chinese engineers are directing the work.

Across the Caspian Sea, cargo will arrive in Azerbaijan by ship and then be directed to Turkey and Europe via the Trump Corridor. The President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, himself stated in New York during a meeting with the American President that the end of the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, mediated by the US, is “of crucial importance for the whole of Central Asia”, a region that has no access to the sea.

The infrastructure of the Corridor, the terminal of the more grandiose ‘Middle Corridor’ between Asia and Europe and of the Chinese Belt & Road Initiative project, includes a railway line for large-scale transport, gas and oil pipelines and fibre optic lines. Armenia has agreed to grant the Americans exclusive rights to develop the Corridor for the next 99 years, including contracts for the installation of communications.

The Tripp will not only connect Azerbaijani territories through Armenia, but will also significantly shorten the entire Eurasian and Trans-Caspian Corridor route, which is essential for transport that must avoid sanctions against Russia.

As Nicola P. Contessi, an international affairs specialist at the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, explains, “the potential influence of the Tripp from a geopolitical point of view could indeed be colossal”, with the US effectively marginalising Russia as the main player in the Caucasus, becoming guarantors of political stability and gaining a key outpost towards the Caspian Sea, which is key to gas and oil trade, and directly monitoring Iran's borders. With the creation of Trump's Corridor, pressure on Tehran will become increasingly strong, subjecting all its initiatives to thorough scrutiny.

According to Contessi, ‘the big winner will still be Turkey, acting behind the scenes’, uniting Ankara and Baku in a close political-economic alliance and acquiring an even more significant role within NATO as a link between regions and continents, capitalising on its limited ‘bi-continentality’, hitherto the exclusive preserve of Russia.

Instead of the 250 kilometres through Azerbaijan and Georgia, the Corridor enters directly into Turkish territory, shortening transport times by 12-15 hours, bringing the shores of the East and West ever closer together in a new perspective of southern Eurasia, the true “great South” compared to the North of Russia's aggressions.