Azerbaijani President announced the beginning of the opening of communications with Armenia

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev stated that the process of opening communications with Armenia “has partially begun.”

Aliyev received on Wednesday in Baku the newly appointed EU representative in Azerbaijan, Petr Mikhalko. The President said that Azerbaijan wants to turn the page and improve relations with its neighbor, Armenia.

“We are ready to start negotiations on a peace agreement, delimitation, opening of communications – this process has partially begun. But I think that if the European Union actively participates – I see that there is such a desire – it can help us in many areas. On the whole, the situation in the South Caucasus can take on completely new scales, which have not been there for 30 years. This can also be a very important factor in stability, predictability and peace”, Aliyev’s press service quoted as saying.

At the end of September 2020, hostilities resumed in Nagorno-Karabakh, which became a continuation of a long-term conflict and led to casualties among the civilian population. The parties made several attempts to conclude a truce, but the tripartite agreement reached on the night of November 10 turned out to be successful. With the mediation of Moscow, Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed to completely cease fire and exchange prisoners and bodies of the dead. Also, in particular, Yerevan handed over to Baku the Kelbajar and Lachin regions, as well as part of the Aghdam region, which in the interwar period were under the control of the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. In addition, Russian peacekeepers are stationed in the region.