Azerbaijan says it responded to Armenia’s proposals on peace deal

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Azerbaijani foreign minister said they sent a response to Armenia regarding its peace proposals meant to normalize relations after years of conflict.

“At the end of November, we received a package of further proposals on a peace treaty from the Armenian side, and within a month, the package of proposals processed by us was returned to the other side,” Jeyhun Bayramov said in an interview with Azerbaijan's AzTV aired late Sunday.

Expressing that the peace process, which began after a 2020 truce, is continuing, Bayramov said face-to-face meetings are important and will probably be held in 2024.

He said a bilateral peace agreement would not mean a full solution to everything, but it could create conditions to define the direction and principles of establishing normal neighborly ties. “We, as the Azerbaijani state, will take all the necessary steps towards it,” he added.

On Nov. 21, the Armenian Foreign Ministry announced on X that Yerevan submitted a sixth package of proposals to Azerbaijan for a peace agreement.

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

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement, and also opened the door to normalization.

This September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order in the region, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.

Earlier this month, both countries traded prisoners of war at their border following a landmark joint statement.