Armenia’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructure, Davit Khudatyan, has responded to remarks by Turkey’s transport minister regarding the so-called “Zangezur Corridor,” stressing that no infrastructure project can be carried out in Armenia without government approval.
“Only infrastructure projects that are proposed, adopted, or approved by the Government of the Republic of Armenia can be implemented on the territory of the Republic of Armenia,” Khudatyan told Armenpress. He cited the North-South highway, the Crossroads of Peace initiative, and the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) among such projects. “Any initiative that does not meet these criteria will not operate in Armenia,” he added.
Earlier, Turkey’s Transport and Infrastructure Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu, speaking at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new railway linking Kars to Azerbaijan’s Nakhichevan exclave, said its construction would be “one of the clearest steps in the implementation of the Zangezur corridor.”
The ceremony followed U.S.-mediated talks in Washington, where President Donald Trump, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reached agreements on opening transit routes.
Khudatyan underlined that Armenia remains open to economic cooperation with both Turkey and Azerbaijan, noting that the transport component of this cooperation is embedded in Armenia’s Crossroads of Peace project. He explained that the TRIPP initiative — the “Trump Path for International Peace and Prosperity” — stems from this framework.
The minister confirmed that preparations are underway to launch TRIPP and to open transport communications with Azerbaijan in accordance with the Washington Declaration signed on August 8 by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the United States. He also recalled Armenia’s publicly declared readiness to reopen the Gyumri–Kars railway with Turkey, describing it as a step that would further enhance regional connectivity.
