Armenia has reaffirmed the political will to make efforts towards the normalization of relations with Azerbaijan and the establishment of peace and stability in the South Caucasus. On November 21, Armenia handed over its 6th edition of the agreement on the normalization of relations to the Azerbaijani side.
In a statement released today, the Armenian Foreign Ministry reminded that while Armenia, after receiving the latest Azerbaijani proposals, was considering them and was ready to continue negotiations on the draft agreement, despite the worsening humanitarian crisis caused by the heavy blockade in Nagorno-Karabakh, on September 19, Azerbaijan launched a large-scale military attack against the people of Nagorno Karabakh, which led to the forced displacement of the entire Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh.
“Next, continuing to openly disregard the possibility of returning to the peace process and the efforts of international partners in that direction, the Azerbaijani side did not participate in the meetings at the level of heads of states first in Granada and then in Brussels within the framework of the European Political Community, although these five-sided and tripartite meetings were previously agreed upon,” the Ministry said.
The Armenian side continued to work on the text of the agreement and considered it more effective to present it to Azerbaijan during the supposed meetings. However, in order to prevent the negotiation process from stalling and attempts to achieve lasting peace in the region, the Republic of Armenia has constructively conveyed its views on the agreement and, as before, has proven its readiness to re-engage in the negotiations based on:
- mutual recognition of and respect for each other’s territorial integrity without any ambiguity,
- implementation of the further delimitation process according to the Alma-Ata Declaration and the most recent legitimate Soviet maps;
- unblocking the region’s infrastructure based on full respect for the sovereignty and jurisdiction of states and the principles of equality and reciprocity.
“The Armenian side continues to believe that despite all the complications and challenges, there is a real possibility of establishing peace between the two countries, which can be realized if there is political will on both sides. The Armenian side continues to demonstrate that will. One of the expressions of that will is also the fact that Armenia offered Azerbaijan to hold a meeting of demarcation commissions on the state border between the two countries,” the Foreign Ministry concluded.
