Pashinyan calls detainees’ issue part of Azerbaijan peace agenda

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan had become a reality, speaking at a meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Turkmenbashi, Turkmenistan.

Operative Information Center-OMM reports that Pashinyan noted several issues between the two countries remain unresolved, including the return of detained persons, determining the fate of the missing and clearing mines from areas.

The prime minister acknowledged that negative rhetoric is occasionally heard in both societies, but said this did not call into question the durability of the emerging peace.

Pashinyan said addressing the consequences of a conflict that lasted more than 30 years would require time and sustained effort. “After numerous human losses and years of hostility, we have managed to change the established view that peaceful coexistence is impossible. The peace achieved serves the fundamental interests of the peoples of both Azerbaijan and Armenia and creates a historic basis for regional cooperation,” he said.

Addressing the legal foundations of the settlement process, the Armenian leader said the principles of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration had been restored, with the administrative borders of former Soviet republics recognized as state borders. He described the absence of casualties along the conditional border over the past two-plus years as the most important indicator of peace.

The prime minister also discussed the opening of regional transport and logistics routes. He said transit of Armenian cargo via Azerbaijan Railways had been possible for nearly a year.

Pashinyan said the next stage envisages implementation of the TRIPP project, which he noted would proceed with full respect for the principles of states’ sovereignty, territorial integrity and jurisdiction. The project is intended to integrate international East-West and North-South logistics routes, including a railway linking the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea, and to create new transit opportunities for CIS countries.

He added that the opening of the Armenia-Türkiye border and transport links is also expected as part of dialogue with Ankara.

The next meeting of the CIS Council of Heads of State was held in Turkmenbashi on October 8-9.