Azerbaijan, Armenia express mutual agreement to continue talks on ‘open issues’

ISTANBUL

Azerbaijan and Armenia on Thursday expressed their mutual agreement to continue talks on “open issues,” as the foreign ministers of both countries concluded two-day talks on a peace agreement in the German capital Berlin.

In separate statements made by the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministries, it was conveyed that the foreign ministers of both countries and their delegations discussed perspectives on the provisions of a draft peace agreement between Baku and Yerevan.

The statements also said both ministers held talks with their German counterpart Annalena Baerbock in bilateral and trilateral formats.

The statements went on to express the ministers’ appreciation to the German side for hosting the negotiations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Relations between the two former Soviet republics have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Azerbaijan liberated most of the region during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended with a Russian-brokered peace agreement, opening the door to normalization.

Last September, the Azerbaijani army initiated an anti-terrorism operation in Karabakh to establish constitutional order, after which illegal separatist forces in the region surrendered.