YEREVAN (PanARMENIAN.Net) — Yerevan and Baku have reached several mutual agreements as part of their negotiations on a peace treaty, but they remain divided on two main issues, according to Armenia’s top diplomat.
“We really have a historic opportunity to establish lasting peace in the South Caucasus. Armenia is committed to the peace agenda and approaches all issues constructively in negotiations. We have already reached a number of mutual agreements in our negotiations on the signing of a peace treaty. Unfortunately, there are two main issues where the visions of the parties are still far from each other,” Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan told Armenia’s Public Television late (via RFE/RL’s Armenian Service) on Saturday, April 6.
He said the first sticking point concerned the mutual recognition of territorial integrity and the further border delimitation process, while the second was the vision of the unblocking of transport links and infrastructure in the region.
“We had agreed several times at the highest level, at least three or four times there were meetings where the parties agreed, reaffirmed the recognition of each other’s territorial integrity on the basis of the [1991] Alma-Ata Declaration and agreed that the border delimitation will take place on the basis of the Alma-Ata Declaration.
“It is also strange for me that when we try to reflect this agreement, to refer to this declaration in the context of territorial integrity and border delimitation in the draft treaty, we see reluctance on the part of Azerbaijan,” Mirzoyan said.
He expressed hope that in the near future the sides will be able to reach a stronger mutual understanding on this issue.
