Azerbaijan is ready to start negotiations on a peace agreement with Armenia. President Ilham Aliyev said this on Tuesday as he received EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar.
"After the end of the second Karabakh war, Azerbaijan's position has always been that we should start negotiations on a peace agreement. I think that the official starting point was on April 6 in Brussels (a meeting between Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, mediated by the head of the European Council Charles Michel - TASS). Since then we have been working, the foreign ministry has been working, my administration has been in contact with your team, and as we agreed, we are ready to start," Aliyev said. He stressed the importance of continuing the outlined progress and compliance by the parties with the agreements reached.
Aliyev also called Armenia's acceptance of the five principles of normalization of relations between the two countries put forward by Azerbaijan a turning point. "This is indeed a turning point in the process. Now, after official statements by both sides, we must prove the seriousness of our intentions at the table [negotiations]," the Azerbaijani leader said. He stressed that Baku hopes here for the efforts of the European Union, in particular the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, who, according to him, "is already deeply involved in the process and is very familiar with it." "I believe this creates an encouraging environment for successful negotiations," Aliyev added.
The Azerbaijani president stressed that one of the issues requiring clarification with the Armenian side is the issue of communications between Azerbaijan and the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic through Armenian territory, including railroads and motorways. He said that next year Azerbaijan will complete the construction of the railroad to the border with Armenia. He regretted that Armenia had not yet begun work on the feasibility study of its part of the railway, which, he said, could delay the process. Besides, according to him, Baku plans to complete the construction of the highway to the border with Armenia by the end of 2023. Aliyev stressed that Baku is waiting for Yerevan to provide the geographical coordinates of the road on the territory of Armenia.
Five principles of normalization of relations
On March 14, Leyla Abdullayeva, the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani MFA, said that Baku handed over to Yerevan proposals containing five basic principles for the normalization of relations between the two countries. They include mutual recognition of each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders and political independence, mutual confirmation of the absence of territorial claims towards the other and the obligation not to present such claims in the future, rejection of threats of force. Proposals also include delimitation and demarcation of borders and establishment of diplomatic relations, opening of transport and other communications, and cooperation in other areas of mutual interest.
On April 6, a meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was held in Brussels, mediated by European Council President Charles Michel. As a result, the two leaders instructed their foreign ministers to begin preparations for talks on a peace agreement. In addition, an agreement was reached to establish a commission to delimit the border between the two countries by the end of April.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: official website of the President of the Russian Federation
Based on materials from TASS