azertag.az
Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed on 15 out of 17 articles in the draft peace treaty, said President Ilham Aliyev in an interview on Wednesday with Russian TV channel VGTRK and news agency RIA Novosti.
One of the unresolved articles concerns the mutual abstention from filing international lawsuits against each other. According to Aliyev, "this is a mutually acceptable article." "We recently completed an analysis of the damage caused, which took us 4 years. The damage amounts to more than $150 billion - damage that was inflicted during the years of occupation. Therefore, abstaining from mutual lawsuits would be mutually acceptable," Aliyev said.
Another unresolved article pertains to the deployment of representatives from other countries along the border. "Under the guise of European observers, NATO infrastructure has been created on the Armenian side of the border," Aliyev stated. The issue of sending these observers was agreed upon with Azerbaijan in October 2022, on the condition that a limited EU contingent would stay there for only two months.
Two other conditions that Armenia must meet are: changing its constitution, which references the Declaration of Independence that contains territorial claims against Azerbaijan. The former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region is declared as part of Armenia in this declaration. "Therefore, changing the constitution is not our whim, but an objective requirement," Aliyev emphasized.
The second condition for Azerbaijan is the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group, as it is no longer functional. "If Armenia has recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan, and the Minsk Group was created to address the Karabakh issue, then what is its purpose now? Armenia's reluctance to dissolve the OSCE Minsk Group suggests that the plans of the revanchists are quite serious," Aliyev stated.
Politics
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The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to drop charges against six members of the anti-corruption investigative outlet Abzas Media and freelance journalist Farid Mehralizada, with U.S. Congress-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) Azerbaijani service, as a trial began Tuesday in the Serious Crimes Court of the capital, Baku.
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On December 18, the Baku Appeals Court rejected the appeal by economist and scholar Gubad Ibadoglu, challenging the decision to maintain his travel ban. Ibadoglu’s defense team had requested the lifting of the ban so that he could accept an invitation to attend the Sakharov Prize award ceremony at the European Parliament on December 17. Ibadoglu was one of the finalists for the prize, but the Narimanov District Court on December 3 had denied this request.
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On December 18, a number of pro-government media outlets reported the arrest of former diplomat Ramiz Valiyev, who had held key positions in several Azerbaijani embassies abroad. "It has been revealed that Ramiz Valiyev, who worked in senior positions at Azerbaijan's embassies in foreign countries, is suspected of abusing his authority, according to the investigative body of the State Security Service," the article states. Valiyev is further accused of anti-government activities and cooperation with foreign entities.
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On December 18, the Supreme Court reviewed the appeal of Avaz Zeynalli, founder of the online platform Xural TV, and Elnur Shukurov, head of the YouTube channel Sada TV. "Avaz Zeynalli rejected all accusations, stating that he is being persecuted for his journalistic activities. He reminded that he had already been convicted once for accepting a bribe, but the European Court had ruled that conviction unlawful," Zeynalli's lawyer, Fahraddin Mehdiyev, said in a statement to Turan. The Supreme Court has reduced Zeynalli's prison sentence by only 2 months. He was originally sentenced to 9 years in prison.
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