Azerbaijan makes public basic principles to normalize ties with Armenia

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijan has made public the five basic principles for normalizing relations with Armenia, the Foreign Ministry reported on its website on March 14.

Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Leyla Abdullayeva made the remarks in an interview with the local media.

For the normalization of relations, Azerbaijan proposes the following principles:

- Mutual recognition of respect for the sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders and political independence of each other;

- Mutual confirmation of the absence of territorial claims against each other and acceptance of legally binding obligations not to raise such a claim in future;

- Obligation to refrain in their inter-State relations from undermining the security of each other, from the threat or use of force both against political independence and territorial integrity, and in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the UN Charter;

- Delimitation and demarcation of the state border, and establishment of the diplomatic relations;

- Unblocking of the transportation and other communications, building other communications as appropriate, and establishment of cooperation in other fields of mutual interest.

To recap, after submitting fundamental principles to Armenia on the normalization of relations between the two countries, Armenia turned to the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs for peace talks.

Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov earlier told Anadolu news agency that Azerbaijan had sent a five-point proposal to Armenia to normalize relations and was awaiting a response from the opposite side.

"The message is this: the factor of occupation is gone. In this situation, the Azerbaijani side, despite all the difficulties and problems of the past, is in favor of normalizing relations with Armenia," he said.

He stressed that Armenia has not responded to Azerbaijan's proposal for almost a year.

The minister described Azerbaijan's recent new proposal to Armenia as a sign of goodwill.

"We have proposed to the Armenian side some fundamental principles, which include the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. We expressed our readiness to develop relations on the basis of certain principles. Armenia should consider this and give its answer," he said.

Bayramov underlined that if Armenia sincerely wants to normalize relations, then this is a very good opportunity for them.

"Armenia's response will be known in the near future, and we will, of course, take appropriate steps," he said.

He added that a one-page proposal was submitted to the opposite side, where fundamental principles were identified and proposed.

"If the Armenian side wants to normalize relations, it must immediately express its attitude towards this proposal. However, I would like to point out that all the principles mentioned in this document are the principles of international relations," he said.

Moreover, he stated that these proposals include the issue of demarcation of the borders between the two countries, which Azerbaijan has repeatedly proposed.

"The Azerbaijani side offered to resolve these issues, but Armenia always put forward preconditions. Preconditions for starting the process are unacceptable. A group of bilateral cooperation should be created, and this group should start working. There are five main points. Our proposals consist of five points," he said.

A Moscow-brokered ceasefire deal that Baku and Yerevan signed on November 10, 2020, brought an end to six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centers, and historic Shusha city.