Türkiye’s Erdogan Says Corridor through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran Must Be Completed

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 19, 2023. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)

Asharq Al Awsat

11:21-26 September 2023 AD ـ 12 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1445 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

11:21-26 September 2023 AD ـ 12 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1445 AH

Türkiye’s Erdogan Says Corridor through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran Must Be Completed

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 78th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City on September 19, 2023. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP)

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said the so-called Zangezur trade corridor passing through Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran must be completed, broadcasters reported on Tuesday, a day after he met Azerbaijan's leader.
Speaking to reporters on his return flight from the Azeri exclave of Nackchivan, where he met President Ilham Aliyev, Erdogan said that if Armenia does not allow the trade corridor to pass through its territory then Iran was warm to the idea of allowing it passage through its territory, Reuters said.
The Zangezur corridor aims to give Baku unimpeded access to Nakhchivan through Armenia. Both Türkiye and Azerbaijan have been calling for its implementation since the Second Karabakh War in 2020.
Erdogan also said all materials required by civilians in the Karabakh region were being provided by trucks after Azerbaijan's lightning offensive to retake control of the region last week.

Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

This handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on August 30, 2024, shows the container ship MSC Marie, of 366 meters long and 51 meters wide, transiting the Panama Canal in Panama. (Handout / Panama Canal Authority / AFP)

09:26-22 December 2024 AD ـ 21 Jumada Al-Alkhirah 1446 AH

Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday accused Panama of charging excessive rates for use of the Panama Canal and said that if Panama did not manage the canal in an acceptable fashion, he would demand the US ally hand it over.

In an evening post on Truth Social, Trump also warned he would not let the canal fall into the "wrong hands," and he seemed to warn of potential Chinese influence on the passage, writing the canal should not be managed by China.

The post was an exceedingly rare example of a US leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory. It also underlines an expected shift in US diplomacy under Trump, who has not historically shied away from threatening allies and using bellicose rhetoric when dealing with counterparts.

The United States largely built the canal and administrated territory surrounding the passage for decades. But the US government fully handed control of the canal to Panama in 1999 after a period of joint administration.

"The fees being charged by Panama are ridiculous, especially knowing the extraordinary generosity that has been bestowed to Panama by the US," Trump wrote in his Truth Social post.

"It was not given for the benefit of others, but merely as a token of cooperation with us and Panama. If the principles, both moral and legal, of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us, in full, and without question."

The Panamanian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Türkiye’s Erdogan Says Corridor through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran Must Be Completed

Türkiye’s Erdogan Says Corridor through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran Must Be Completed

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Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

Trump Says He Might Demand Panama Hand over Canal

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