After months of deadlock and extreme tension, talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan – who have been in conflict for over 30 years over control of the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave – have made a breakthrough. In a joint statement on Thursday, December 7, the two countries promised "concrete measures" to normalize relations, and reaffirmed their intention to "sign a peace agreement." They also agreed on the release of 32 Armenian prisoners of war, in exchange for the release of two Azerbaijani soldiers.
To move the talks forward, Russia, the European Union and the United States have been conducting parallel negotiations for months. All have welcomed the announcement. Moscow said it was ready to "provide assistance in unblocking transport routes, demarcating the border, concluding a peace agreement and establishing contacts with civil society." European Council President Charles Michel was pleased with this "major step forward," while the United States welcomed the prisoner exchange as "an important confidence-building measure."
Turkey, Azerbaijan's ally, also expressed its satisfaction, saying that it hoped to sign a peace agreement "as soon as possible," something which would be "one of the most important developments in establishing lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus." Ankara has never recognized the Armenian genocide of 1915, and is also trying to normalize relations with Armenia.
According to Richard Giragosian, director of the Regional Studies Center in Yerevan, the unusual joint declaration by Baku and Yerevan represents a "real breakthrough," as it is the result of "successful secret negotiations, without the assistance of Washington or Brussels." The prisoner exchange also marks "impressive" progress, even though it was a promise made months previously and "should have been made earlier."
At the end of November, Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed talks on the demarcation of their common border, another point of friction. According to the communiqué, the two countries are now expected to implement "additional confidence-building measures." They are calling on the international community to support their efforts, which will help to "strengthen mutual trust" between the two states and have a "positive impact" on the South Caucasus as a whole.
The two countries have come a long way. In mid-November, Azerbaijan refused to take part in talks with Armenia which were scheduled to take place in the United States in November. It cited a "biased" position on the part of Washington following comments made by US Deputy Secretary of State James O'Brien. In October, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev had in turn refused to meet Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan in Spain, citing French military support for Armenia.
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