US welcomes Türkiye's ‘productive role’ in peace process between Azerbaijan, Armenia

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US on Thursday welcomed Türkiye's “productive role in resolving” the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia following Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan's visit to Baku.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller made the comment in response to a question by Anadolu.

"We agree with what the foreign minister said that peace is possible and we would support direct talks between the two parties to achieve that," he said.

Miller said the conflict is part of the conversation in all talks between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Fidan.

"That is something that they regularly discuss when they either get together in person or when they talk on the phone," he said.

During his visit to Baku, Fidan said Thursday that Ankara is pleased with ongoing peace talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia and the opportunity for peace has grown significantly and is now unavoidable.

Azerbaijan and Armenia exchanged prisoners of war Wednesday after the two countries agreed last week to the mutual release of detainees in a step toward peace.

Azerbaijan announced Wednesday that it released 32 Armenian soldiers as part of a prisoner swap deal.

A statement by Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons said the mutual exchange took place in the border region of Gazakh, where Armenia also handed over two Azerbaijani soldiers.

It said the Armenian soldiers were released after their health conditions were checked by the International Committee of the Red Cross and their conditions were confirmed to be satisfactory.