ARF Eastern Region condemns August 8 agreements as historic betrayal
The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Eastern Region forcefully condemns the August 8 agreements signed at the White House by Ilham Aliyev, Nikol Pashinyan and Donald Trump. These documents represent a coordinated act of betrayal that dismantles Armenia’s sovereignty, erases Artsakh from the international agenda and fractures the Armenian homeland.
Three documents were signed: withdrawal from the OSCE Minsk Group, creation of the so-called Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) through Armenia’s sovereign Syunik province and a framework peace agreement codifying the March 2025 17-point arrangement between Pashinyan and Aliyev—an arrangement never presented to, let alone ratified by, the Armenian people.
That March deal read like an enemy’s wish list:
- Constitutional changes to erase all references to Artsakh and abandon any moral or legal claim to its defense
- Dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group
- Ban on third party border monitors, removing deterrents to Azerbaijani aggression
- Withdrawal of Armenia’s international legal cases, erasing accountability for war crimes and the 2023 genocide against Artsakh
- Commitments to “open communications” that pave the way for the so-called Zangezur Corridor: no matter the name, it is a calculated loss of sovereignty
- Agreement to allow 300,000 Azerbaijanis to “return” to Armenia under Aliyev’s irredentist “Western Azerbaijan” plan
Omitted entirely: any provision for the release of Armenian POWs or illegally held prisoners in Azerbaijan.
Pashinyan’s signatures bear the indelible stain of illegitimacy, a betrayal delivered without mandate, consultation or regard for the sacrifices of generations. In Washington, he acted not as Armenia’s defender but as the instrument of foreign agendas, codifying the demands of Baku and Ankara and trading away sovereignty for political survival. By granting Azerbaijan unimpeded access through Armenia’s territory, abandoning Artsakh in the international arena, accepting terms that invite demographic and political subversion and making no demand for the return of Armenian POWs, he has betrayed the sacrifices of generations who defended the Armenian homeland.
The Trump administration shares full responsibility for legitimizing this betrayal. Rather than holding Azerbaijan accountable for its aggression, genocide and expansionism, Trump chose to reward Aliyev, appease Ankara and erase the plight of over 150,000 forcibly displaced Armenians from Artsakh. This was not peace; it was pipelines, power and political vanity at the expense of justice and sovereignty.
The Armenian Nation, despite its wounds, remains awake, aware and organized. We will not be silenced. We will not be erased to accommodate the whims of despots or the ambitions of presidents. History will record this moment and will judge those who stood in defense of our nation and those who stayed silent in the face of its betrayal.
We reject this corridor. We reject these agreements. We reject this betrayal.
