For the first time after more than a year of political and military tension, Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to exchange prisoners of war as a “gesture of good will” and a first step toward reaching a definitive peace agreement. “The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan agree that there is a historic opportunity to achieve the long-desired peace in the region. The two States reaffirm their intention to regulate their relations and reach a peace treaty based on respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” reads the joint statement published Thursday night by the governments of both countries.
The deal will allow 32 Armenian soldiers and two Azerbaijani soldiers to return home after years imprisoned in the other country after receiving different prison sentences. Most of these prisoners were captured at the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War (2020) and in subsequent skirmishes along the border between both countries. As explained this Friday by the president of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Armenian Parliament, Sargis Jandanián, they will be exchanged at a place on the common border in “the next few hours or days.”
Since they became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991, the two Caucasian countries have had a long conflict for control of the Nagorno Karabakh region, with an Armenian majority but located in the territory of Azerbaijan, which has caused some 40,000 deaths and a million displaced people. . In the 1990s, Armenian forces took control of the region and several Azerbaijani provinces, which Baku regained in the 2020 war. Last September, after nine months blockading Nagorno-Karabakh, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces They launched a new offensive that regained full control of the enclave and caused the exodus of its entire Armenian population, in what Armenians denounce as “ethnic cleansing.”
The last time a prisoner handover occurred was in October last year, a couple of months before the conflict heated up again with the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh. On that occasion, Azerbaijan returned 17 Armenian prisoners after negotiations mediated by the United States. According to Baku, there are 23 Armenian prisoners of war in Azerbaijani prisons, a figure that, from Armenia, rises to more than 70. Armenia also includes in this count eight senior Armenian political leaders from Nagorno Karabakh, captured by Azerbaijan last September when They were trying to flee the enclave, who face trial in Baku. On the other hand, once the Azerbaijani soldiers are released, there will be none left in Armenian prisons.
Undo the insulation
Despite the humiliating defeats suffered, the Armenian Government, led by Nikol Pashinián, has been seeking a peace agreement with Azerbaijan for three years with which to end its isolation in the region (the borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey have been closed for three decades). However, the Azerbaijani side had been absent from the latest meetings in Madrid and Washington promoted by the European Union and the United States because it considered that the mediators were partial and favorable to Armenia. On the other hand, the recent agreement—as Jandanián stressed—has arrived without the help of external mediators, as a result of direct negotiations between the teams of both countries.
Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe
EU welcomes the joint statement by #Armenia & #Azerbaijan announcing the mutual release of detainees & other confidence building measures-an important political step
We concur – there is a historic chance to achieve peace in the region & are committed to supporting these efforts
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) December 7, 2023
The EU, the US, Russia and Turkey have welcomed the pact reached by both countries. “We agree that there is a historic opportunity to achieve peace in the region and we are committed to supporting this effort,” said the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, on the X network (formerly Twitter).
In the agreement, Armenia and Azerbaijan commit to continue negotiating new measures to increase trust between both countries. The second measure, after the prisoner exchange, is that Armenia has withdrawn its candidacy to chair and host COP29, next year’s edition of the United Nations Climate Change Summit. Instead, it will support the candidacy of Azerbaijan, which also has the approval of Russia.
Just a few days before COP28 ends in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), it is still unknown which country will host the next meeting and lead the discussions during 2024. It is up to a country in the Eastern European area to do so, but Russia has vetoed all of them. those who belong to the EU due to the sanctions adopted against them following the invasion of Ukraine. According to Reuters, other candidates being considered are Moldova and Serbia, since some countries do not welcome a second oil and gas producing state like Azerbaijan hosting the climate summit after the Emirates have done so.
Follow all the international information on Facebook and xor in our weekly newsletter.
Subscribe to continue reading
Read without limits
_
#Armenia #Azerbaijan #agree #exchange #prisoners #war #negotiate #definitive #peace