Baku’s Media Hails “Historic Turning-Point” After Washington Deal, But Notes New Geopolitical Chessboard

Azerbaijani newspapers, broadcasters, and digital portals reacted with a rare, near-unanimous burst of enthusiasm to Thursday night’s joint declaration signed in Washington by President Ilham Aliyev, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. While headlines celebrated a “diplomatic victory” and a “new era of connectivity,” commentary pages also stressed the demands now placed on both governments—and on outside powers—to turn signatures into tangible results, such as bricks, bridges, and binding law.

Euphoria on the Front Pages  

“A true victory of high-level diplomacy,” proclaimed the English-language daily Azernews, arguing that the agreement “heralds a profound shift in the political, economic, and strategic landscape of the entire South Caucasus” and “integrates the region more fully into the global system”. Azernews correspondent Akbar Novruz listed three clauses singled out in Baku as game-changing: the para­phing of the peace-treaty text, the joint request to shut the OSCE Minsk Group, and U.S. guarantees for uninterrupted traffic between Azerbaijan proper and Nakhchivan through what the declaration officially rebrands as the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” (TRIPP).

“Agreement Shows We Want Peace.”  

On Azerbaijani-language portals, the tone was both congratulatory and presidential. “The agreement demonstrates our intention—our desire for peace,” President Aliyev told reporters in Washington, a quotation splashed across the politics page of 525.az early Friday morning. First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva used her Instagram feed, re-published verbatim by the same site, to “congratulate our people on this historic event” and to pray that “there will always be peace”.

Within hours, lawmakers queued to give interviews. Deputy Elnara Akimova told state wire service AZERTAC that the White House ceremony constituted “one of the most glorious pages in Azerbaijan’s political biography,” because the U.S. had “suspended Amendment 907” and committed itself to safeguarding the future TRIPP corridor. Fellow MP Parvana Valiyeva said the memorandum on a bilateral Strategic Working Group proves that “the United States is ready to support safe and open transport connections”—a formulation widely interpreted as a long-sought American security umbrella for the Zangezur/Meghri route.

From Analysis Desks: Triumph—Tempered with Strategy  

Commentators at the centre-right daily Sherg argued that the meeting represents “a test not only for the South Caucasus but for the entire international diplomatic system,” noting that Washington’s entry erodes Moscow’s status as the region’s sole arbiter. Political scientist Oqtay Gasimov, quoted by Sherg, underscored that Azerbaijan had succeeded in embedding its “five principles” into the Washington paper—mutual recognition of sovereignty, border delimitation, non-interference, and the unblocking of communications chief among them.

Xalq Qazeti, the government-owned newspaper of record, lauded an “8 August diplomatic victory” and highlighted another aspect that excites Baku’s economic planners: renaming the Zangezur corridor as TRIPP “changes the logistics map of the region” and could redirect energy and trade flows toward Euro-Atlantic markets. The same editorial drew attention to U.S. media coverage, noting that AP, Reuters, and the Financial Times “gave wide play” to the story—a subtle reminder that international legitimacy bolsters Baku’s leverage.

Musavat Warns Against “Meddlesome Spoilers”  

Even traditionally combative opposition outlets prioritize patriotism. The Musavat website called the memorandum a “triumphal achievement” that finally fixes borders along the 1988 lines, but warned that Armenian and foreign “revanchists” may still try to derail it. “Let the spoilers stay quiet; there is no alternative to lasting peace,” columnist Araz Altaylı wrote, before castigating both Moscow and Tehran for signalling discomfort with the U.S. role.

Across outlets, the most-discussed geopolitical takeaway is the formal request to abolish the Minsk Group. Xalq Qazeti stated that the move “symbolically and practically closes a chapter on outdated mediation models,” liberating the region from “external manipulation.” Azernews linked the step to Trump’s “personal guarantee,” arguing that Washington’s return “as principal architect of a new regional security model” will “curtail Russia’s regional sway and compel Iran to adapt”. Milli.az, retransmitting a Baku Network analysis, was blunter: “Moscow has already lost the right to act as sole ‘judge’ between Baku and Yerevan” after crippling its credibility in Ukraine.

Economic Promise: From Oil Hub to Digital Corridor  

Business reporters focused on the Strategic Working Group and references to high-tech cooperation. Deputies interviewed by 1news.az said the suspension of Amendment 907 unblocks U.S. financing for “advanced technologies like AI,” opening vistas that go “far beyond the South Caucasus” and tie Azerbaijan into supply chains stretching “from Central Asia to the Eastern Mediterranean”. In a weekend feature, Azernews framed the shift as “geography meeting geoeconomics,” predicting that TRIPP and associated fibre-optic cables will help Baku evolve “from an oil-dependent state into a logistics and digital hub”.

Most coverage linked the Washington signing directly to the legacy of the 2020 and 2023 military campaigns. “Aliyev promised that once basic principles were para­ph­ed, full peace would follow,” 525.az reminded readers; “the joint declaration is the irreversible step”. Editorials repeatedly described the document as a vindication of the president’s “dignified, farsighted” strategy and even floated Nobel Prize nominations—for Trump, for Aliyev, or both.

Cautious Notes: Constitutional Hurdles and Referendum Clock  

Still, not every paragraph dripped with optimism. Sherg and Milli.az both pointed to the clause obliging Armenia to amend its constitution by 2026 to delete territorial claims, calling that provision “the biggest procedural risk” to swift ratification. Analysts also noted that the declaration itself is not yet the final treaty; legislatures and, in Armenia’s case, a referendum must still endorse the text.

Iran’s foreign ministry statement, expressing concern about “any foreign interference near shared borders,” received modest but visible coverage, mainly as evidence of outside jealousy rather than an immediate threat. Axar.az reprinted the communiqué, but stressed Baku’s message that restored railways and highways will increase regional, not just national, prosperity. Comment pieces in Musavat and Xalq Qazeti likewise suggested that Tehran and Moscow fear losing transit fees and leverage more than security.

Next Steps Highlighted by Media Agenda-Setters  

Looking ahead, editors laid out a checklist. First, foreign ministers must convert the paraphrased document into a signed Peace Treaty; second, joint letters must be delivered to the OSCE regarding the dismantling of the Minsk Group; third, a trilateral working party must finalize engineering studies for the TRIPP corridor and secure financing. “Only when freight moves from the Caspian to the Mediterranean without arbitrary checkpoints can we say the Washington vision is real,” wrote Azernews in its Saturday editorial.

In summary, Azerbaijani media portray the Washington declaration as the culmination of a five-year arc that began with a battlefield victory and culminated in diplomatic codification. Celebratory language dominates, but it is threaded with awareness that constitutional referenda, engineering diagrams, and rival great-power interests could yet complicate the path from paper to pavement. Still, the verdict across outlets is clear: 8 August 2025 may be recorded as the day the South Caucasus walked out of a 30-year tunnel—onto a highway named TRIPP.

Photo: Azernews