Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan on Foreign Policy Hikmet Hajiyev announced the creation of a special government working group for the integration of Nagorno-Karabakh. The publication reported this on Saturday, September 23 Politico.
The group will consider the humanitarian, economic and social aspects of the integration of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ethnic Armenians living there.
“Under these circumstances, there is a much greater chance of establishing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan,” he said.
Hajiyev said that guaranteeing access to humanitarian aid is evidence of the “good intentions and seriousness of the Azerbaijani government.”
On September 19, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense announced the start of “anti-terrorist measures” of a local nature in Nagorno-Karabakh. The next day it became known that the conflicting parties had agreed to a complete cessation of hostilities.
On September 21, a meeting was held in Yevlakh between the Armenians of Karabakh and the delegates of Azerbaijan. Following their results, the representative of the Azerbaijani president for special assignments, Elchin Amirbekov, said that the meeting would help reach the conclusion of a peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan.
Later, on September 22, Foreign Policy Advisor to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev noted that residents of Nagorno-Karabakh who laid down their arms could be amnestied by the country’s authorities. However, he stressed that some members of the armed groups have made public statements that they will continue to resist.
Relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia deteriorated against the backdrop of disputed ownership of Nagorno-Karabakh, which in 1988 declared secession from the Azerbaijani SSR. During the military conflict of 1992–1994, Baku lost control over the region.
In 2022, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a statement in Prague recognizing the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration, according to which Nagorno-Karabakh is the territory of the Azerbaijani state.
#Hajiyev #announced #creation #special #group #Karabakh #integration #issues