Fresno voices weigh in on Trump's Armenia-Azerbaijan peace deal

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A historic peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

President Trump hosted the two leaders at the White House on Friday to agree on reopening transportation routes in the region.

"We finally succeeded in making peace and we just left the oval office where we signed voluminous documents and very important elements to the agreement," the President said.

The transit corridor is expected to be called the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity.

The corridor will have a rail line, oil and gas lines, as well as allowing the movement of goods.

White House officials say the deal will help with connecting the two countries while still respecting Armenia's sovereignty and its people.

This deal comes after the two countries have been at odds for decades over the Karabakh region.

"This treaty is, it's just a remarkable step in the right direction. It is not the entire solution itself. It's going to take time to build confidence, to build trust, to build open communication," Berj K. Apkarian with the Honorary Counsel of Armenia said.

Trust is a concern for Armenia-American and Fresno State Professor Matthew Ari Jendian.

"I have questions about the integrity of the agreement because I don't have a lot of trust for the, I would call him an authoritarian leader of Azerbaijan," he said.

The President of Azerbaijan has made claims on land that he says belongs to his country, but Jendian explains that doesn't sit well with the people of Armenia.

Still, Jendian is hopeful now that President Trump has facilitated this agreement.

"He will hold things over people. And if he feels if he's broke or the deal, and that president of Azerbaijan is agreeing and then goes back on his word, I just know how Donald Trump is, he's not gonna take that lightly he's gonna take that personally," Jendian said.

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