In a rare display of unanimity between former adversaries, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday publicly endorsed former U.S. President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing his role in brokering a historic settlement that ended more than three decades of conflict between their nations.
The peace accord, signed August 8 at the White House, formally resolves the territorial dispute that has fueled war and instability in the South Caucasus since the early 1990s. Responding to a reporter’s question during the signing ceremony, Pashinyan declared he would “actively advocate” for Trump’s nomination. Aliyev went further, suggesting the two leaders send a joint appeal to the Nobel Committee, according to The Daily Caller.
“So maybe we agree with Prime Minister Pashinyan to send a joint appeal to the Nobel Committee to award President Trump with the Nobel Peace Prize,” Aliyev said. “From the leaders of the countries which were at war for more than three decades, having this historic signature here, it really means a lot. This is a tangible result of President Trump’s leadership, and no one could have achieved that. So who, if not President Trump, deserves the Nobel Peace Prize?”
The U.S.-facilitated agreement not only ends longstanding hostilities but also opens the door to expanded economic cooperation among the United States, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. It follows a string of high-profile diplomatic breakthroughs credited to Trump since returning to office in January, including cease-fires between Thailand and Cambodia, Israel and Syria, and India and Pakistan.
The momentum for Trump’s Nobel nomination has been building for months. In July, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu submitted his own recommendation to the committee, citing Trump’s mediation in indirect talks between Israel and Hamas. The joint endorsement from Aliyev and Pashinyan adds fresh weight to that campaign, underscoring Trump’s emerging status as a central broker in resolving some of the world’s most entrenched disputes.
Earlier this year, Pakistan submitted its own nomination of Trump, citing his involvement in easing tensions between India and Pakistan.
“At a moment of heightened regional turbulence, President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi,” Pakistan’s government said in a statement.
The US president helped in “averting a broader conflict between the two nuclear states that would have had catastrophic consequences for millions of people in the region and beyond” the Pakistani leaders added, according to CNN.
“This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker and his commitment to conflict resolution through dialogue.”
Whether the Nobel Committee will heed these calls remains to be seen. But for the two leaders whose nations once exchanged artillery fire across a contested border, the signature on this week’s agreement is proof, they say, that determined diplomacy — and Trump’s personal involvement — can turn bitter enmity into political reconciliation.
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