BAKU, Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan and Armenia have agreed to remove a contentious provision on transport links in peace negotiations between the two neighbors, according to a senior Azerbaijani official.

Elchin Amirbayov, Baku's special envoy for special assignments, told Prague-based Radio Free Europe that the decision was made to remove the paragraph from the draft deal in order to accelerate the signing of a peace agreement.

According to the news website, Amirbayov added that once the peace deal is signed, the two sides could continue talks to find an acceptable formula for a link between Azerbaijan and its autonomous exclave Nakhchivan.

Ani Badalyan, Armenia's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, also confirmed the decision, saying the two sides had agreed to it with mutual consent.

Badalyan went on to say that the opening of such links remains an important part of Armenia's vision and agenda for peace and economic development.

The issue of opening transport links in the region, including the Zangezur corridor, a land route connecting Azerbaijan to Nakhchivan, has been a contentious issue between Baku and Yerevan in the ongoing peace talks.

Baku argues that Azerbaijani citizens and cargo traveling to Nakhchivan via Armenia should not be subject to any controls, while Yerevan's position is that passages on that route should be in accordance with its own laws.

*Writing by Burc Eruygur