Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on Friday April 19 on the demarcation of part of their international border. This is the first time this has happened since the independence of these two former Soviet republics in 1991, and it comes in the context of Azerbaijan’s victory in what has been called the Second Upper War. -Karabakh, at the end of 2020, named after this province populated by Armenians which seceded from Azerbaijan in 1994. Last September, the latter finalized the total resumption of control over Nagorno-Karabakh. With the end of this three-decade-old conflict, Baku and Yerevan are discussing a possible “peace treaty”.
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At the end of this agreement Friday April 19, considered historic both in Baku and Yerevan, four villages in the province Armenian of Tavoush, in the north-east of the country, will be transferred toAzerbaijan. Four localities uninhabited since the First World War Karabakhin the early 1990s, recalls our correspondent in Tbilisi, Régis Genté.
These localities are deserted, but are of strategic importance because they are close to the main route linking Armenia and Georgia, through which much trade passes, and the gas pipeline which transports Russian gas.
The cession of these villages was a precondition for Baku to continue ongoing peace talks, aimed at ending three decades of conflict over the Karabakh issue.
The four villages have been part of Armenia since the early 1990s and their “restitution” constitutes a “ long awaited historic event “, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said on Friday on the social network X. “ In this process, the Republic of Armenia benefits from reduced risks related to border demarcation and security », Commented the Armenian Prime Minister’s office, quoted by the national news agency.
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An unprecedented breakthrough
Against a backdrop of tensions at the border in recent months, sometimes deadly, the Armenian-Azerbaijani international border delimitation commission has nevertheless been able to move forward little by little. The 8th meeting enabled this unprecedented breakthrough since the independence of the two South Caucasian republics. Breakthrough partly due to the Armenian side’s fear of a coup by Azerbaijan.
‼️Long-awaited historic event: 📢
As a result of the 8th meeting of the State Commissions on the delimitation of the state border between #Azerbaijan and #ArmeniaArmenia has agreed to return 4 villages of Azerbaijan that were under the occupation since early 1990s. pic.twitter.com/qoHA9urFKv
— Aykhan Hajizada (@Aykhanh) April 19, 2024
Other segments of the border remain to be discussed, with, in the background, the desire or at least the possibility of signing a “peace treaty” which is discussed as discreetly as regularly by the closest collaborators of the Azerbaijani leaders and Armenian.
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