Archfoes Armenia and Azerbaijan on Thursday said that they would exchange prisoners of war and work toward normalizing their relations, in a joint statement hailed by the EU and the US as a breakthrough after three decades of conflict over disputed territory.
The Caucasus neighbors have long fought over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Azerbaijan reclaimed after a lightning offensive against Armenian separatists in September.
Both countries have said a peace agreement could be signed by the end of the year, but peace talks — mediated separately by the EU, the US and Russia — have seen little progress.
Photo: Azerbaijani Presidential Press Office handout via AFP
The two sides agreed in Thursday’s joint statement to seize “a historical chance to achieve a long-awaited peace in the region.”
“The two countries reconfirm their intention to normalize relations and to reach the peace treaty,” the statement said.
Baku will free 32 Armenian prisoners of war, while Yerevan will release two Azerbaijani servicemen, the statement said.
They also agreed to continue discussions on “more confidence building measures, effective in the near future.”
As a sign of good faith, Armenia announced it was withdrawing its bid to host UN-led COP29 climate talks next year, paving the way for Azerbaijan’s candidacy.
The annual negotiations on fighting climate change rotate among regions and were due to be hosted by an Eastern European country next year after this year’s COP28 in Dubai.
“As a sign of good gesture, the Republic of Armenia supports the bid of the Republic of Azerbaijan to host [COP29] by withdrawing its own candidacy,” the statement read. “Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan do hope that the other countries within the Eastern European Group will also support Azerbaijan’s bid to host.”
A grouping of Eastern European nations must unanimously choose the COP29 host, but Russia is opposing an EU member holding the event as tensions with the bloc run high during the war in Ukraine.
Non-EU countries Armenia and Azerbaijan were both seen as candidates, but Baku’s offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh has escalated tensions with Moscow.
Armenia’s foreign ministry said Yerevan had “responded positively to the offer of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to organise the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington.”
European Council President Charles Michel praised the statement, calling it a “key step.”
The US also welcomed the steps by the two countries.
“This commitment represents an important confidence building measure as the sides work to finalize a peace agreement and normalize relations,” US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement on Thursday.
In other news, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has ordered the country’s Central Election Commission to prepare for an early presidential election on Feb. 7, shortly ahead of Russia’s presidential election on March 17.
The order was published on the presidential Web site but did not explain why Aliyev had called an early vote. The next presidential election had been scheduled to be held in 2025.
Aliyev’s popularity in Azerbaijan has recently increased after the government took full control of the Karabakh region.
Some analysts suggested the timing of the vote was aimed at taking advantage of the recent burst in popularity and doing so while Russia was occupied with its own election so as to minimize that country’s possible influence on the campaign.
Last month, Aliyev presided over a military parade through Khankendi, the capital of the region, telling spectators that “we showed the whole world the strength, determination and indomitable spirit of the Azerbaijani people.”
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