Azerbaijani, Armenian border commission convenes for 3rd meeting in Brussels

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Delegates from the Azerbaijani-Armenian commission on delimitation and security convened for the third time in the Belgian capital Brussels on Thursday under the mediation of the EU.

“Pleased to welcome Brussels Armenian and Azerbaijani border commissions led by DPMs Mher Grigoryan and Shahin Mustafayev for their 3rd meeting. The European Union urges the sides to take steps to improve security on the ground and to achieve progress on delimitation,” Secretary General of the EU External Action Service Stefano Sannino wrote on Twitter.

The meeting of the commission comes as the leaders of Azerbaijan, Russia, and Armenia agreed to reaffirm their commitment to a comprehensive normalization of Baku-Yerevan relations, and to ensure peace, stability, security, and sustainable economic development of the South Caucasus after trilateral talks in Russia's Sochi on Monday.

During the talks, the leaders agreed to refrain from the use or threat of force to discuss issues and resolve them “solely on the basis of mutual recognition of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of borders, in accordance with the UN Charter and the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991,” a joint statement said.

The second meeting of the commission was held in Moscow on Sunday, once again under the chairmanship of Mustafayev and Grigoryan.

The commission between the two neighboring countries was established on May 23, a day after European Council President Charles Michel hosted Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Brussels. On May 24, the commission held its first meeting on the Azerbaijan-Armenia interstate border.

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.

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