Armenia and Azerbaijan want to settle dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh The voice of eternity: Tina Turner’s incomparable stage presence

After decades of fighting over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in the South Caucasus, the warring ex-Soviet republics of Armenia and Azerbaijan want to settle their dispute.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan reiterated his announcement this week in Moscow on Thursday that Nagorno-Karabakh would be recognized as part of Azerbaijan and all transport links would be opened. “I think there is a possibility for a peace agreement, especially considering that Armenia has officially recognized Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan,” Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev replied.

Aliyev and Pashinyan were scheduled to meet in the evening, brokered by Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, to possibly finalize the peace deal. It was initially unclear whether this would work. The leadership of the internationally unrecognized region of Nagorno-Karabakh is not at the table. After the last war in 2020, Putin brokered a ceasefire and sent 2,000 Russian soldiers to the region to enforce the agreement. Yet there were always bloody battles. Large parts of the Armenian population are also against leaving the conflict area.

“I would like to confirm that Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to mutual recognition of each other’s territorial integrity,” Pashinyan said. “And based on that, we can say that we’re pretty well on our way to getting our relationship right.” Aliyev confirmed that there is a chance of normalization of the relationship. Putin had said the deal was possible because it was in the interests of both parties’ economic development.

Azerbaijan and Armenia have been at odds over Nagorno-Karabakh for decades. In the 1990s, the region, which is mainly inhabited by Armenians, managed to break away from Azerbaijan in a bloody civil war. In 2020, Azerbaijan, which had been heavily armed for years thanks to revenues from oil and gas sales, regained control of much of the area after renewed fighting. Despite the ceasefire, fighting continued to break out and spread to other border areas of Armenia and Azerbaijan. (sda/dpa)