White House-backed deal rewards Azerbaijan’s genocide, undermines Armenia’s sovereignty
Armenian Americans call for a real peace, centered on returning Armenians to Nagorno Karabakh, releasing hostages and delivering justice for Baku’s war crimes
WASHINGTON—The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) issued a strong warning today against a proposed White House-brokered peace deal between Armenia and Azerbaijan that, according to Reuters reports and internal documents leaked to reporters, would reward Azerbaijan’s ethnic cleansing of Nagorno Karabakh’s (Artsakh) 150,000 indigenous Armenians while compromising Armenia’s sovereignty and long-term security.
“The same Donald Trump who failed to stop Azerbaijan’s 2020 attack on Nagorno Karabakh is now rewarding this very aggression—further compromising Armenia’s security and sovereignty and, in the process, abetting Azerbaijan’s normalization and formalization of its ethnic cleansing—its genocide—of more than 150,000 indigenous Armenian Christians,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian.
According to leaked documents and news accounts, the agreement set to be signed tomorrow would establish a new U.S.-branded “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP),” granting exclusive U.S. development rights to a transit corridor through Armenia’s Syunik province. The project would provide unimpeded access for Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave and be operated by a U.S.-subleased commercial consortium under Armenian law.
The reported plan includes no provisions for the safe and dignified return of forcibly displaced Armenians to Artsakh, the release of Armenian prisoners and hostages illegally held by Azerbaijan or any meaningful rollback of Azerbaijani military presence inside sovereign Armenian territory.
According to the same reports, the summit will also feature the signing of a joint declaration, a preliminary peace agreement between foreign ministers and a joint letter requesting withdrawal from the OSCE Minsk Group—all presented as part of a U.S.-led pivot from international mediation to regional “stability through commercial infrastructure.”
“Real peace cannot be built on the forced displacement of a people, the abandonment of hostages or the roll-back of sovereignty,” added Hamparian. “You cannot declare peace while ignoring the ethnic cleansing of 150,000 Armenians and the illegal imprisonment of their democratically elected leaders. That is not peace—it is impunity, an invitation to renewed aggression.”
The ANCA further emphasized its longstanding opposition to any corridor—whether labeled “Zangezur” or “TRIPP”—that bypasses Armenian control or emboldens Turkish-Azerbaijani extraterritorial claims. As documented in a recent ANCA policy memo shared with Capitol Hill, such a corridor would permanently compromise Armenia’s borders, laws and self-determination.
“Armenian land is not a bargaining chip. Armenian sovereignty is not for lease,” said Hamparian. “Any project that prioritizes pipelines over people or transit over justice does not advance peace; it threatens it.”
Armenian American voters—across party lines—remain deeply skeptical of any U.S.-backed arrangement that ignores fundamental human rights, international legal rulings and U.S. congressional calls for a protected right of return. A bipartisan group of 87 U.S. representatives recently urged the state department to ensure the “collective, protected and dignified return” of Armenians to Nagorno Karabakh.
“This deal may offer headlines in Washington but not hope for Armenians displaced from their homes, no justice for hostages held in Azerbaijani prisons, no security for the people of Armenia,” stated Hamparian. “We urge the U.S. government to stop substituting economic expediency for ethical leadership.”
“Armenians want real peace,” Hamparian reiterated. “Erasing Nagorno Karabakh is not peace. Normalizing ethnic cleansing is not peace. Abandoning Christian holy sites is not peace. Forsaking hostages is not peace. Accepting Azerbaijani occupation of Armenia is not peace. Peace reached at gunpoint is not peace.”
Background: Trump-brokered Azerbaijan-Armenia deal leaked ahead of Friday White House meetings
According to a Reuters article published on August 7, U.S. President Donald Trump will host Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the White House for a signing ceremony that will “culminate in the signing of a peace framework that includes exclusive U.S. development rights to a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus.” The route—referred to as the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP)—will give U.S.-backed companies special long-term control over a passage that links Azerbaijan to its Nakhichevan exclave through Armenia’s Syunik province.
Reuters also reports that “the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders will sign documents requesting the dissolution of the Minsk Group,” and that the plan “does not include military oversight but is framed as a commercial transit deal managed by a U.S. consortium.”
These revelations match details found in internal briefing documents about the TRIPP plan, first posted by Washington-based journalist Alex Raufoglu on social media. According to those internal documents, the agreement will include:
- A joint declaration to create an “irreversible pathway to peace”
- The initialing of a bilateral peace agreement between the two foreign ministers
- A joint letter requesting exit from the OSCE Minsk Group
- Two bilateral MOUs between the U.S. and Armenia, and the U.S. and Azerbaijan, focused on trade and development
Notably, neither the leaked documents nor the public reporting reference the return of displaced Armenians to Artsakh, the release of Armenian hostages or accountability for war crimes committed by Azerbaijan during and after the 2020 and 2023 attacks.
ANCA resources on the White House tri-lateral meeting with Azerbaijan and Armenia:
- ANCA Congressional Update on the White House tri-lateral meeting with Azerbaijan and Armenia
- ANCA Policy Memo on the “Zangezur Corridor”
- ANCA Policy Memo on the Armenia-Azerbaijan “Peace” Agreement
Please stop naming Artsakh “Nagorno Karabakh”?! Artsakh is the original and indigenous name for that land, but Nagorno Karabakh is the imposed term by the barbaric invaders who arrived to Caucasus just a few hundred years ago! By keep using false name for Artsakh you actually confirm their claim on it!.
As Nakhichavan which is located outside of the so called “Azerbaijan” and considered a part of it, Artsakh can be considered part of Armenia as well, why on earth successive Armenian government did not declare it!
The deal maker of century sold Zangezur corridor as TRIPP to the prime minister of Armenia. Once a respectful man found himself trapped in a cold and icy environment and could not get sleep because of excess cold and asked his servant go to find something, the servant came back and said: “Sir, there is nothing but the donkey dress” the man said bring it but do not mention its name!