Pashinyan proposes peace, clean slate for Armenia and Azerbaijan relations

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has proposed ending further discussions on conflict issues between Yerevan and Baku and opening a new era of bilateral relations, starting with a clean slate.

 “Armenia has presented its proposals on the last 2 of 17 points of the draft peace treaty with Azerbaijan,” Pashinyan stated, speaking at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington on February 5, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

He elaborated on the key issues at hand, saying, “Azerbaijan proposes to introduce a ban on the deployment of forces of third countries on the border, referring to the EU civilian observation mission. Armenia, in turn, proposes to apply this clause only on the delimited sections of the border. In other words, there should be no third-party forces only on those parts of the border that the sides have delineated together. Yerevan has submitted its proposal in writing and is waiting for Baku's response.”

Pashinyan also addressed the issue of lawsuits filed against each other in international legal organizations. “We are not against this idea either, but our proposal is also that these issues should not be raised in bilateral relations as well. Otherwise, a strange situation may be created when, for example, this issue is withdrawn in an international court, and at the bilateral level one of the parties tries to promote this issue, using it to stir up aggravations,” he said.

Based on these discussions, Pashinyan concluded, “Based on this, Armenia proposes to put an end to further discussions on conflict issues and open a new era of bilateral relations by starting with a clean slate.”

It should be noted that bilateral commissions led by the Deputy Prime Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Mher Grigoryan and Shahin Mustafayev, are handling the issues related to defining the Armenian-Azerbaijani border.

During their regular meeting in mid-January, the two sides continued their discussions on the order of sections or segments of the borderline for further delimitation work. They agreed to begin the complex task of delimiting the state border from the northern section, starting from the area where the borders of Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia meet. The delimitation work will continue southward, extending down to the border between Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The parties also reviewed drafts of relevant instructions concerning the process of delimitation. They agreed to determine the date and location of their next meeting through working arrangements.

By Tamilla Hasanova