ISTANBUL: Baku expressed confidence that talks scheduled on Friday between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Kazakh city of Almaty will contribute to the peace process between the two countries.
‘Against the background of the recent agreement reached between the delimitation commissions (of Azerbaijan and Armenia), confidence was expressed that today’s negotiations will in turn contribute to the (peace) process,’ said a statement by the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, following bilateral talks between Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Kazakh counterpart Murat Nurtleu.
Bayramov thanked the Kazakh side for its support in advancing the ongoing peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
‘In addition to bilateral partnership, regional and international platforms, especially cooperation within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States, promise wide prospects,’ the statement further said.
Bayramov informed his counterpart in detail about the preparations for the
29th UN Climate Change Conference scheduled to be held in the Azerbaijani capital Baku in November, the statement added.
Nurtleu later held separate talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.
Relations between Baku and Yerevan have remained tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.
Last September, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an “anti-terrorist operation” after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.
Source: Anadolu Agency