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.”
Seven people sustained mostly minor injuries in an airplane fire in South Korea, authorities said yesterday, with local media suggesting the blaze might have been caused by a portable battery stored in the overhead bin. The Air Busan plane, an Airbus A321, was set to fly to Hong Kong from Gimhae International Airport in southeastern Busan, but caught fire in the rear section on Tuesday night, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said. A total of 169 passengers and seven flight attendants and staff were evacuated down inflatable slides, it said. Authorities initially reported three injuries, but revised the number
‘BALD-FACED LIE’: The woman is accused of administering non-prescribed drugs to the one-year-old and filmed the toddler’s distress to solicit donations online A social media influencer accused of filming the torture of her baby to gain money allegedly manufactured symptoms causing the toddler to have brain surgery, a magistrate has heard. The 34-year-old Queensland woman is charged with torturing an infant and posting videos of the little girl online to build a social media following and solicit donations. A decision on her bail application in a Brisbane court was yesterday postponed after the magistrate opted to take more time before making a decision in an effort “not to be overwhelmed” by the nature of allegations “so offensive to right-thinking people.” The Sunshine Coast woman —
BORDER SERVICES: With the US-funded International Rescue Committee telling clinics to shut by tomorrow, Burmese refugees face sudden discharge from Thai hospitals Healthcare centers serving tens of thousands of refugees on the Thai-Myanmar border have been ordered shut after US President Donald Trump froze most foreign aid last week, forcing Thai officials to transport the sickest patients to other facilities. The International Rescue Committee (IRC), which funds the clinics with US support, told the facilities to shut by tomorrow, a local official and two camp committee members said. The IRC did not respond to a request for comment. Trump last week paused development assistance from the US Agency for International Development for 90 days to assess compatibility with his “America First” policy. The freeze has thrown
TESTING BAN: Satellite photos show a facility in the Chinese city of Mianyang that could aid nuclear weapons design and power generation, a US researcher said China appears to be building a large laser-ignited fusion research center in the southwestern city of Mianyang, experts at two analytical organizations said, a development that could aid nuclear weapons design and work exploring power generation. Satellite photos show four outlying “arms” that would house laser bays, and a central experiment bay that would hold a target chamber containing hydrogen isotopes the powerful lasers would fuse together, producing energy, said Decker Eveleth, a researcher at US-based independent research organization CNA Corp. It is a similar layout to the US$3.5 billion US National Ignition Facility (NIF) in northern California, which in 2022 generated
RSS