Azerbaijan intends to establish a durable regional security architecture capable of countering factors that cause wars in the South Caucasus and attempts to undermine the peace process with Armenia.
“Operativ Məlumat Mərkəzi-OMM” Hikmat Hajiyev, assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and head of the Presidential Administration’s Foreign Policy Affairs Department, said this in an interview with Jeffrey Sachs, Operative Information Center-OMM reports.
“This is not about declarative peace that exists only on paper. We are creating a viable peace that people can feel,” he said.
He noted that Azerbaijan had been in conflict and confrontation with Armenia for 30 years, while its territories remained under occupation. That period ended in 2023.
Hajiyev added that Azerbaijan showed diplomatic courage after the war ended. The President and the country’s leadership demonstrated political leadership by offering peace to Armenia.
“The text of the peace agreement was prepared in our country. We extended a hand of peace to our neighbor Armenia. We had two paths before us: eternal war or eternal peace. We chose the path of eternal peace,” he said.
The presidential aide said Azerbaijan had won the war and liberated its territories, but after the war ended, securing peace became the country’s strategy.
“Winning peace is much harder than winning a war. Today, I am glad that we are also succeeding in the peace process as part of our strategy to turn the entire South Caucasus into a space of cooperation,” he said.
Hajiyev added that Azerbaijan preserves a culture and traditions of cooperation and seeks to ensure that the region’s geopolitical environment serves peace, stability and interaction.
“We will preserve and strengthen this peace. We intend to build a regional security architecture based on the concept of peace that can counter all the negative factors leading to wars, as well as the actions of forces seeking to disrupt the peace process. It must deliver a lasting outcome for future generations,” Hajiyev said.
