Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he welcomes the statement by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on lifting restrictions on the transit of goods from Azerbaijan to Armenia.
According to Armenpress, Nikol Pashinyan made this statement during the 5th “Silk Road” forum held in Tbilisi.
“This is a very important statement, and I want to appreciate and welcome the Azerbaijani president’s step. An event that seemed incredible a few months ago is now happening: grain from Kazakhstan is being imported to Armenia via Azerbaijan and Georgia.”
President Ilham Aliyev stated on October 21 that Azerbaijan has lifted all existing restrictions on the transit of goods to Armenia. The first transit shipment, a batch of Kazakh wheat, will be delivered to Armenia.
Nikol Pashinyan emphasized that politically, they are ready to ensure transit from Nakhchivan to the main part of Azerbaijan and vice versa via Armenia, but due to technical reasons, this is not possible because the infrastructure is lacking.
“From today, we are ready to facilitate the transit of trucks from Turkey to Azerbaijan through Armenian territory and vice versa,” Pashinyan added.
The normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia
Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov, at a joint press conference in Baku with Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahna, stated that there is progress in the normalization process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. He highlighted the significance of the joint initiative regarding the initialing of the peace agreement in Washington and the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group:
“Since August 8, we have observed positive outcomes from this process. As the President noted in Washington, peace has already become a reality for us. Recent events confirm this. The Minsk Group is expected to be fully dissolved by December 1.”
The minister also noted that the second line of the Middle Corridor could turn Armenia into a transit country.
The conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began in 1988.
In September 2020, after a long-term ceasefire, a 44-day Second Karabakh War took place between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Azerbaijan regained control over part of Karabakh and seven surrounding districts.
On September 19, 2023, Azerbaijan conducted a local military operation in Karabakh.
On October 15, President Ilham Aliyev raised the Azerbaijani flag in Stepanakert and stated that Azerbaijan had fully restored its sovereignty, that the Karabakh issue was resolved, and that the conflict had ended.
On August 8 of this year, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia initialed a peace agreement in Washington.
Representatives of civil society from Azerbaijan and Armenia meet in Yerevan
On October 21, a plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines (AZAL) landed in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Military expert Edalat Verdiyev shared this information on his Facebook account.
According to reports, the plane carried Azerbaijani experts traveling to Yerevan for a meeting with representatives of civil society from Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Armenpress reported on October 21 that civil society representatives from Armenia and Azerbaijan would hold a bilateral roundtable discussion in Yerevan on October 21–22. Citing the press service of the Center for Security Policy Studies, the agency stated that the discussion would focus on the agenda formed during the August 8 meeting in Washington, measures to strengthen mutual trust between the two societies, potential paths for stable economic cooperation in the South Caucasus, and the prospects for establishing direct and long-term connections between civil society representatives of both countries.
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