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Türkiye is on the brink of a new era in logistics and foreign trade, as a recent peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia is set to open a strategic transit corridor through the South Caucasus.
The Zangezur Corridor that passes through Armenia and links the bulk of Azerbaijan’s territory to its Nakhchivan exclave that borders Türkiye is a key part of the agreement signed at a trilateral summit hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump last week.
The summit saw Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sign a joint declaration aimed at ending decades of conflict.
Under the deal, the United States will have the development rights of the proposed route, dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” which passes near the Iranian border. Tehran has said it would not accept that.
Baku and Yerevan have been at odds since the late 1980s, when Nagorno-Karabakh, a mountainous Azerbaijani region, was occupied by Armenia-backed armed separatists. Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, and some 100,000 Armenians in the enclave returned to Armenia.
Peace negotiations had been underway for nearly two years, with no sign of progress, until the White House stepped in.
The Zangezur Corridor will connect Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan exclave, which are separated by a 32-kilometer-wide (20-mile-wide) patch of Armenian territory.
For Azerbaijan, a major producer of oil and gas, the route also provides a more direct link to Türkiye and onward to Europe. The corridor is expected to eventually include a rail line, oil and gas pipelines and fiber optic lines.
Strategic opportunity in Eurasian logistics
The route is not only a transportation project, but a strategic initiative poised to reshape regional trade routes, logistics networks and geopolitical balances, according to to Bilgehan Engin, head of the Turkish Forwarding and Logistics Association (UTIKAD).
The route, dubbed the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” is now being viewed as a critical opportunity for Türkiye’s regional logistics and trade strategies.
Experts suggest the corridor could offer Türkiye new integration pathways in energy, transportation and digital infrastructure. With railways, oil and gas pipelines and fiber-optic networks planned along the route, Türkiye could emerge as a regional gateway for energy and communications.
Analysts note that the corridor could enhance Türkiye’s competitive edge in logistics, especially through its ports in Istanbul and southern Mersin province, which serve as key gateways to European markets. When integrated with the Middle Corridor’s Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway, Zangezur could significantly reduce both transportation costs and delivery times.
“Türkiye has the opportunity to become a central actor in global supply chains by establishing a logistics bridge between East and West,” UTIKAD’s Engin said.
Complementary route to Middle Corridor
He explained that the Zangezur Corridor offers an alternative and complementary route to the Middle Corridor, which stretches from China across the Caspian Sea to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Türkiye and onward to Europe.
“Due to infrastructure limitations and customs bottlenecks in Georgia, transit times have been prolonged. The Zangezur route could substantially reduce these delays,” he noted.
With the new route, Türkiye would establish direct land and rail connections to Central Asia via Nakhchivan and Azerbaijan, according to Engin. “Transit times will be shortened, logistics costs reduced and uninterrupted links with Turkic republics will be established. This will also create new economic opportunities for eastern provinces in Türkiye,” he noted.
UTIKAD believes the corridor will add not only commercial value but also geoeconomic significance to Türkiye. Integrated with the planned Kars-Iğdır-Nakhchivan railway, it could open new trade routes and development prospects for eastern regions.
“This corridor will not only strengthen Türkiye’s central position in Eurasia, but also serve as a means for the Turkic world to come closer economically and culturally,” said Engin.
Geopolitical risks
Potential U.S. involvement in managing the corridor could accelerate its operationalization, particularly through modernization of ports, railways, security systems and customs infrastructure, Engin says.
“This could fast-track Türkiye’s ambition of becoming a regional logistics hub,” he added.
However, he also warned of geopolitical risks.
“U.S. influence over the corridor could threaten China’s trade security and provoke countermeasures. It could also reduce Russia’s influence in the South Caucasus and lead to political pressures that may limit Türkiye’s logistics leadership,” Engin said.
He stressed the need for Türkiye to manage the process with both geopolitical and geoeconomic sensitivity, maintaining strategic autonomy while pursuing a balanced policy aligned with regional dynamics.
