Azerbaijani FM: Prospects open up for normalisation with Armenia

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has said that prospects opened up for normalisation with Armenia.

He made the remarks at the Caspian Connectivity conference organised by the Caspian Policy Centre during his working visit to the UK, Caliber.Az reports, citing the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

Bayramov added that prospects have opened up in the normalisation process between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the basis of mutual respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders. He stated that Azerbaijan is determined to continue on the path of development that contributes to building a safer and more prosperous future for the region and is interested in cooperation with investors in the region and beyond. The minister invited all partners to support Azerbaijan's post-conflict reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts.

He spoke about the possibilities of the Caspian region, which has an exceptional geographical location. He stressed the growing importance of transport routes passing through Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus. The minister noted that Azerbaijan pays attention to the diversification and modernisation of its transport infrastructure, and stimulates the implementation of a number of transport projects for the development of trade and logistics between Europe and Asia.

He added that Azerbaijan is an active initiator and reliable partner in a number of other regional projects, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway and the Transcaucasian fibre-optic project. The minister noted that in general, the volume of transit through Azerbaijan increased by 75 per cent in 2022 and expressed confidence that the opening of all communications will make an even greater contribution to sustainable peace and stability in the region, significantly expanding the trade and transport sector. In this context, Bayramov recalled the importance of the Zangazur Corridor, which can further expand ties within the Middle Corridor. The foreign minister said that despite the efforts made by Azerbaijan, Armenia is obstructing the process of unblocking communications.

The minister said that Azerbaijan is putting forward initiatives to expand regional cooperation with a number of countries. In particular, he spoke about the work done within the framework of trilateral formats with Turkey, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and about the important documents signed in this regard.

Bayramov informed the conference participants about Azerbaijani-EU  "green energy" cooperation and expressed confidence that the launch of the project on laying an underwater electric cable along the bottom of the Black Sea between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Romania and Hungary will change the regional energy map.