Aliyev confident of Trump Route project implementation
BAKU. Aug 27 (Interfax) - Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said he is confident that the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity project will be implemented soon.
"For almost five years, we've been negotiating with them [Armenia] about these connectivity lines. In the meantime, we [Azerbaijan] started to build a railroad toward the Armenian border to connect it with Nakhchivan, and started to build the highways. The highway projects will probably be ready next year, as well as the railroad. But during these almost five years of negotiations, Armenia did not demonstrate a constructive approach with respect to our demands or legitimate requests," Aliyev said in an interview with Al Arabia.
When U.S. President Donald Trump and his team got involved in the process and wanted to facilitate, Azerbaijan send them a message saying that there must be strong security guarantees - international security guarantees to make the Zangezur Corridor operational and safe, so that Azerbaijani citizens can travel along this 40-kilometer route, he said.
"Trump's administration accepted this legitimate concern with the proper attitude, and that's how it turned into TRIPP - Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity. So now, when President Trump gave his name to the Zangezur Corridor, I am sure that it will materialize very soon. From the point of building the physical infrastructure, I mean the railroad, it should not take a long time, because it's only 42 kilometers. If we were to build it ourselves, we would have done it in one year. Maybe for Armenia it will take a few more years, because we have more experience in building railroads," he said.
Aliyev said that U.S. investors might take part in infrastructure renovations in Armenia.
The project is very close to being implemented, and it is now up to Armenia to do their part of the job, he said.
"But it's not only about connecting the parts of Azerbaijan; it's about building a new transportation line. Today, the Middle Corridor, one of its branches, which goes across the Caspian from Asia, goes from Azerbaijan to Georgia, to Turkey, and then to Europe, and also to Georgian seaports. This is the only way to connect Asia with Europe through Azerbaijan. So, the Zangezur Corridor, or TRIPP, will provide an alternative route," Aliyev said.
"So, with the Zangezur Corridor, Armenia will get transit fees from transportation. Taking into account that the volumes of cargo from Asia to Europe through Azerbaijan are growing year by year, I am sure that the Zangezur Corridor will be an important transportation link connecting the continents," he said.
