Dr. Cavid İsmayiloğlu retweetledi
Today, in Gabala, Azerbaijan, we held an open dialogue with civil society representatives from Armenia within the framework of the Peace Bridge initiative. Our discussions lasted for more than two hours.
As in other spheres of bilateral relations between the two countries, confidence-building measures—particularly Track 2 diplomacy—are also inherently bilateral in nature. I once again emphasized that Azerbaijan’s agenda is solely focused on peace. We remain fully committed to the Washington agenda. This commitment is not merely declarative or confined to paper; rather, concrete and pragmatic steps are being taken to strengthen the peace agenda. These include bilateral trade, transit shipments to Armenia via Azerbaijan, and people-to-people contacts, all of which reflect the concept of the economic dividends of peace.
The implementation of the TRIPP project promises new opportunities for Armenia as a transit country. At a time when global developments—often described as resembling a Third World War—and the ongoing situation in the Middle East underscore the importance of established peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
At the same time, it was noted during the meeting that the presence of revanchist forces in Armenia’s domestic political landscape, along with their calls for war, risks dragging the region back into turbulence—similar to the late 1980s and early 1990s.
However, seeing that Armenian society itself aspires to peace gives us hope that those acting as spoilers will ultimately fail in their attempts to undermine the peace agenda.
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