ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a protocol late Wednesday on demarcating the northernmost section of the border between the two countries, according to local media.

Azerbaijan’s state news agency Azertac reported that the protocol was signed during the ninth meeting of the commissions of the two countries on delimitation held earlier in the day, chaired by Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev and Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan.

The report said the two countries discussed the work they conducted during the eighth meeting held last month and agreed on a jointly drafted protocol defining the northernmost segment of their border, specifically between Azerbaijan's Gazakh district and Armenia's Tavush region.

It said this border line passes between the villages of Baghanis (Armenia)-Baghanis Ayrum (Azerbaijan), Voskepar (Armenia)-Asagi Eskipara (Azerbaijan), Kirants (Armenia)-Heyrimli (Azerbaijan) and Berkaber (Armenia)-Kizilhacili (Azerbaijan).

The report sad that this section was defined “with an aim of aligning them in accordance with the legally justified inter-republican border that existed within the framework of the Soviet Union (USSR) at the time of its dissolution.”

It added that it took into account the “clarification of coordinates based on geodetic measurements on the ground in accordance with the topographic map of the General Staff of the USSR Armed Forces of 1976, which underwent the duty procedure in 1979.”

“The date and location of the next meeting will be agreed in a working order,” it said.

On April 19, Armenia agreed on the return of the villages of Baghanis Ayrum, Asagi Eskipara, Heyrimli and Kizilhacili to Azerbaijan, which Yerevan occupied during the First Karabakh War of 1988-1994.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have remained tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.​​​​​​​

Last September, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an "anti-terrorist operation" after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.