Azerbaijan once again proposes reintegration talks with Armenian representatives in Karabakh

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan on Monday once again proposed to hold talks in the capital Baku with representatives of the Armenian population in Karabakh for their reintegration into Azerbaijani society.

“As a follow-up to the meeting held in Khojaly on March 1 and the invitation presented on March 13, the Office of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan proposes once again to hold a meeting in Baku in the first week of April for the purpose of reintegration of the representatives of the Armenian public of Karabakh,” said a presidency statement.

It said that the meeting will also aim to discuss the implementation of infrastructure projects in the region, which was liberated from nearly 30 years of Armenian occupation following a 44-day conflict back in the fall of 2020.

On March 13, Azerbaijan invited representatives of Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region for a second round of talks on their reintegration, the first of which took place on March 1 at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in the region.

Baku has accused Armenia of intervening in the dialogue between Azerbaijan and its Armenian residents in the Karabakh region, describing the use of “provocative statements” against Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity by Yerevan as “unacceptable.”

Relations between the two former Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

In the fall of 2020, in 44 days of clashes, Azerbaijan liberated several cities, villages and settlements from Armenian occupation. The Russian-brokered peace agreement is celebrated as a triumph in Azerbaijan.