BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 9. The meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Almaty is a step forward, advisor of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, chairman of the Baku Political Scientists Club Zaur Mammadov said, Trend reports.
He made this statement while commenting on the upcoming meeting of Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan in Almaty.
Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhun Bayramov, according to him, have known each other for a long time and have already held joint meetings.
"Last year, several meetings, even multi-day meetings, were held in the US, after which, direct or circumstantial meetings began to be held regularly. Nowadays, we do notice positive changes in relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
We hope that Armenia's decision regarding the four villages, along with the upcoming changes to its legal regulations, can pave the way for the signing of a peace treaty. Let us hope that this is only the beginning, and that it will not end with the villages alone returning.
The return of villages does not mean that the problem is completely solved. Delimitation and demarcation will continue, and at the same time, it is the constitutional changes and normative legal acts that are the main issue between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Baku's main desire. Because if Armenia today, in its legal normative acts, makes claims to the territory of the neighboring country, it may lead to the fact that in the future, after the change of power, Armenia will again be set against Azerbaijan," he noted.
Mammadov stated that the text of the peace treaty will also be a topic of discussion in Almaty.
"We can name it a peace treaty, or an initialed document before the peace treaty, which will probably be engraved with a statement that this treaty, which will be signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, will annul the decisions made in the country up to this point and will be considered the supreme document between the parties.
This would be great progress to prevent disagreements and possible conflicts in the future. Additionally, communication issues will be discussed. Of course, when we discuss communication, we're referring to the road line's final opening to Zangezur.
Last but not least, the meeting will be held in Almaty, where the parties signed the agreement in 1991.
This time, the foreign ministers will discuss the text of the peace treaty. This is certainly a step forward. And most importantly, holding the meeting in a neutral country excludes geopolitical conflicts of interest and can make communication more effective," he added.
Azerbaijani MP Elshan Musayev commented on the upcoming meeting between the Foreign Ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, telling Trend that the recent processes, in particular the return of four villages and the beginning of the realization of delimitation, proved that in the absence of outside interference, everything goes in the right direction and the two states find common language faster.
According to him, expectations are high for the meeting in Almaty, and there is a belief that the foreign ministers of the two countries will achieve serious results.
"Moreover, the forces that are doing "everything possible" to destabilize the situation in the region should also be given a clear message that there is no need for their mediation, as both Azerbaijan and Armenia can solve all disputes between themselves.
As we know, the main topic of discussion in Almaty is the text of the peace treaty, and we hope that at the press conference that Jeyhun Bayramov and Ararat Mirzoyan will hold afterward, we will get good and encouraging news about the agreement of this text.
Why not? In my opinion, there are no obstacles to this. Everything has its turn. It is enough for Armenia not to succumb to external influences from now on, to act adequately until the end, as in the issue of four villages, to be as resolute as we are, and to realize the importance of peace. That's all. After that, no one will be able to hinder this process and prevent the conclusion of a peace treaty," he added.
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