Yerevan and Baku engaged in an unusual exchange of words on Tuesday as Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry called on Armenia to submit its proposal for the much-discussed “peace talks,” while Armenia’s Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan insisted that Yerevan has already submitted its expectations to advance this process.
On Monday, Armenia’s foreign ministry issued a short statement reporting that it has “responded” to Azerbaijan’s proposals.
“The Republic of Armenia responded to the proposals of the Republic of Azerbaijan and applied to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship to organize negotiations for the signing of peace agreement between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan on the basis of the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Helsinki Final Act,” Yerevan said on Monday.
Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry statement seemed to have been a response to an interview Mirzoyan had with the Armenpress news agency, in which he revealed Baku’s expectations for kicking off peace talks with Yerevan.
In the interview with Armenpress published on Tuesday, Mirzoyan elaborated on the specific points made by Baku, including Yerevan’s insistence that the rights and freedoms of the Artsakh Armenians be taken into consideration during the so-called peace talks, which should take place “without preconditions.”
“As for the main proposals, the two countries, having signed the ‘Agreement on the Establishment of Cooperation of Independent States’ on December 8, 1991, in fact have already recognized each other’s territorial integrity and accepted that they have no territorial claims towards each other,” Mirzoyan told Armenpress.
“It should be noted that the provisions mentioned in the proposal do not fully reflect the whole agenda of the existing problems. It is vital for the Armenian side that the rights and freedoms of the Armenians of Artsakh are clearly guaranteed, and the status of Nagorno-Karabakh is finally clarified. For us, the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not a territorial issue, but a matter of rights,” Mirzoyan emphasized, adding that Yerevan had already responded to Azerbaijan’s proposal in line with its stated position.
Evidently, official Baku was not pleased with Yerevan’s position, because in Tuesday’s statement, Azerbaijan again asked Armenia for its response.
“If Armenia also takes the issue of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan and the establishment of peace in the region seriously, it should present its concrete proposals,” Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said as reported by the APA news agency.
“There is no need to reiterate our position, which we have stated many times. Taking into account the importance of the normalization of relations between the two countries and the chances of building a post-conflict peace in the region, Azerbaijan has put forward relevant proposals and is ready to move in that direction. If Armenia also takes this issue seriously, it should present its concrete proposals, thereby demonstrating its readiness to start substantive talks,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said in a statement,” official Baku added.
On Monday, Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry said that Baku is ready to negotiate a peace treaty with Yerevan “on the condition that Armenia will accept these ‘five basic principles’:
Below are the 5 points of the Azerbaijani document:
- Mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, political independence from each other,
- Mutual confirmation of renouncing territorial claims against each other; legal obligation and other encroachments in the future;
- The Parties undertake to refrain from threatening each other’s security in interstate relations, from threatening political independence and territorial integrity, as well as from other circumstances which are contrary to the Charter of the United Nations;
Demarcation of the state border, establishment of diplomatic relations,
Opening of roads and communications, establishment of other relevant communications and cooperation in other areas of mutual interest.”
Mirzoyan told Armenpress that Yerevan received Baku’s proposals on March 10 in a letter that was dated February 21.
“We believe that the agreements reached within the Trilateral Statements of November 9, 2020, January 11, 2021, and November 26, 2021, should be fully implemented, and we are consistent in this regard. As you know, we have even made comprehensive proposals for the implementation of these agreements, such as the proposal to launch a delimitation process through the mirrored withdrawal of troops and the introduction of an international monitoring mechanism, which, however, was rejected by the Azerbaijani side,” Mirzoyan told Armenpress regarding the demarcation and delimitation of borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
He also stated that Yerevan had appealed to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to facilitate the start of “peace negotiations” with Azerbaijan.
“Earlier, the Foreign Ministry of Armenia stated that it had applied to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmanship to organise negotiations on a peace treaty on the basis of the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Helsinki Final Act,” explained Mirzoyan.
Based on Tuesday’s announcement, Baku seems to be rejecting Armenia’s “response” to its proposals.
Furthermore, since mid-February, Azerbaijani forces have been shelling villages in Artsakh’s Askeran region and intimidating residents through threats and escalating tensions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border.
