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Hikmat Hajiyev: Trump Route to create new strategic link between Central Asia, South Caucasus and Europe

Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration

17 April 2026 19:34 (UTC +04:00)

The Trump route will create a new strategic connection between Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Europe, Hikmat Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, said during the panel titled “South Caucasus: An Emerging Strategic Center” held as part of the 5th Antalya Diplomacy Forum, APA’s correspondent dispatched to Türkiye reports.

“Azerbaijan plays an important role not only in energy but also in global logistics supply chains as a reliable partner. Recent developments have once again demonstrated the importance of the Middle Corridor. This corridor has already become a functioning, diversified, and multimodal route. One of the key components of this route is the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars railway.

Another direction is the ‘Trump route’ project, which is being developed jointly with Armenia and the United States following the Washington summit. This project will create a new strategic connection between Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Europe. Overall, we assess this as the ‘Four Seas Concept.’ It envisages establishing connections between the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Adriatic Sea. Within this framework, regional cooperation and partnerships are expanding further, and Armenia is also being involved in this process as a transit country. Azerbaijan’s part of the project is nearly complete, and it is planned to finalize the work by the end of 2026.

As for the Nakhchivan direction, cooperation with European partners continues, while Armenia and the United States are working bilaterally on certain segments. Against this backdrop, the South Caucasus is transforming into a region that will play an important role in global supply chains and energy security in the long term. Whereas in the past such forums mainly discussed conflicts and wars, the situation has now changed. A few years ago, the region was characterized by divisions, lines of contact, and wars. Now, real peace exists, and this peace must be further strengthened,” Hajiyev noted.