Think tank: Baku–Yerevan civil society talks mark historical milestone PHOTO

The visit of a delegation of Azerbaijani civil society representatives to Armenia marks a truly historic milestone, Rusif Huseynov, director and co-founder of the Topchubashov Center in Baku, said in an interview with Caliber.Az. 

“Until now, various public and political figures, journalists, athletes, and in some cases deputies from both countries have visited Azerbaijan and Armenia as part of various events. However, this time the visit was exclusively bilateral, and from this point of view, we highly appreciate it,” Huseynov said.

He explained that the purpose of the visit was to gauge civil society’s commitment to the peace process in line with the spirit of the historic August 8 meeting in Washington and the Joint Declaration signed there, as well as to actively contribute to this process.

"We had the opportunity to meet with Armen Grigoryan, Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Armenia, and listen to his opinion. This was also a very significant moment of our trip, as it was extremely important for the Azerbaijani delegation to learn the position of the Armenian state, understand the position of official Yerevan on the peace process, and raise a number of issues at this meeting. It can be said that Armen Grigoryan focused on more optimistic topics in his speech, and his optimism about the process was palpable," the pundit said.

According to Huseynov, the importance of the visit lies in its exclusively bilateral format and the opportunity for Azerbaijani participants to visit Armenia directly.

"We have certain goals, plans and ideas. And we hope that we will be able to further develop the inter-state peace agenda implemented by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Armenia within the framework we have outlined. Our goal is to maintain the continuity and sustainability of this process,” he added. 

A reminder that a roundtable discussion took place in Yerevan on October 21–22, bringing together representatives of civil society from Azerbaijan and Armenia. The event was organised through a joint initiative by members of the expert community, with the support of official institutions from both countries.

The Armenian participants included Areg Kochinyan, Boris Navasardyan, Naira Sultanyan, Narek Minasyan, and Samvel Meliksetyan. The Azerbaijani delegation was represented by Farhad Mammadov, Rusif Huseynov, Ramil Isgandarli, Kamala Mammadova, and Dilyara Afandiyeva.