Yerevan expects Baku to publicly recognize Armenia's sovereignty

Baku/06.01.24/Turan: The unblocking of regional communications will take place under the sovereignty and jurisdiction of Armenia on the basis of the principles of reciprocity and equality, stated by the head of the Armenian Security Council Armen Grigoryan, commenting on the latest statements by the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan.

Hikmet Hajiyev, in an interview with the “Berliner Zeitung” yesterday, accused Armenia of evading its obligations arising from the November 2020 trilateral statement. According to Hajiyev, transport links between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan through the far south of Armenia will not affect the trade route between Armenia and Iran. These two routes intersect without blocking each other. "It is always possible to find acceptable conditions if there is a political will for this. The term "corridor" should not scare Armenia, as it is widely used in the context of transport routes. This transport link will not deprive Armenia of the border with Iran. This route will not divide Armenia into two parts. The opening of the route through Armenia is an obligation of Yerevan, which they must fulfill," Hajiyev said.

In turn, Armen Grigoryan said that Azerbaijan should publicly confirm that the principles of sovereignty, preservation of jurisdiction, reciprocity and equality will be adopted as the basis for the possible opening of communications through Armenia, after which it will be possible to talk about more specific mechanisms.

"Armenia will continue to work on unblocking regional infrastructures. It is also necessary to work on a peace treaty so that we have peace in the region. It is very important that the positions of Armenia and Iran on the issue of unblocking coincide," Grigoryan said.

When asked what Pashinyan meant when he stated that the procedure for ensuring land communication between the main part of Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan through the territory of Armenia could be simplified, the Secretary of the Security Council replied that "the more technical part of the issue".

"After the public announcement of the approval of the four principles of unblocking mentioned by me, we can already work on these mechanisms. We have heard about Azerbaijan's agreement on these principles, we expect that they will also publicly announce this, and we will continue to work on clarifying further steps," Grigoryan said.

Referring to the possibility of organizing a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan in Washington in January, the Secretary of the Security Council said that Yerevan expressed its readiness to participate in these negotiations in the near future and expects the reaction of partners. -0-