One of the important issues to be resolved between Azerbaijan and Armenia, who have decided to make peace, is the determination of state borders.
On August 8, the foreign ministers of the two countries initialed the text of an agreement on peace and establishing interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. According to the initialed agreement, the parties confirm that the borders between the republics of the Soviet Union, which collapsed in 1991, have been transformed into international borders of the respective independent states and recognized as such in the international community, and they recognize each other's sovereignty, territorial integrity, inviolability of international borders, and political independence.
Thus, Azerbaijan and Armenia agree to recognize the border established during the Soviet period as each other's legal territory.
Considering the borders established in the Soviet period, as noted in the text of the agreement and also recognized by the international community, 4 villages of Azerbaijan (Kerki of the Sadarak district, Sofulu, Barkhudarly, and Yukhari Askipara villages of the Gazakh district) are under the control of Armenia. The Bashkend village of the Gadabay district belonged to the territory of Armenia during the Soviet period. In other words, according to the Soviet-era borders, Armenia has one village under the control of Azerbaijan.
All the villages of Kerki, Sofulu, Barkhudarly, and Yukhari Askipara are surrounded by Armenian territory, while the village of Bashkend is surrounded by Azerbaijani territory.
The initialed peace agreement states that the parties will conduct negotiations in good faith between the relevant border commissions to conclude an agreement on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border.
Deputy Prime Ministers Shahin Mustafayev and Mger Grigoryan lead the commissions on clarifying the state border between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
How will the delimitation and demarcation of the borders be carried out? Will Azerbaijan return the Bashkend village to Armenia in exchange for returning the villages of Kerki, Sofulu, Barkhudarly, and Yukhari Askipara to Azerbaijan?
Is mutual renouncement of enclave villages, that is, territorial exchange, possible?
Political analyst Ogtay Gasimov, speaking to Medianews.az on the subject, stated that the agreement on peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia being negotiated and initialed does not mean that all issues have been resolved: “The final peace agreement still needs to be signed. At the same time, on August 8, specific instructions were given to structures to conduct work. One of these is the conduct of negotiations between commissions on delimitation and demarcation regarding clarifying the state border. Both sides’ commissions actively worked last year and adopted a charter. Work is being conducted according to that charter. Approximately 13 kilometers of territory has been delimited and demarcated. Currently, there are certain problems in this process that need to be resolved. The problems are related to enclave villages. Azerbaijan has claims on 4 villages, while Armenia has claims on 1 village. As stated from the office of Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev in March last year, these issues will be resolved in the course of the delimitation and demarcation commissions’ work. There are quite important points there. Regarding the enclave villages, there are sensitive points to be discussed such as establishing communication lines between those villages and the main territory of the country to which they belong, ensuring living conditions and security in those villages, and similar issues.”
According to O. Gasimov, to solve the problem, one can consider a number of options: “Which of the options can be implemented will ultimately be determined by the mutual agreement of the parties. The status and area of the territory that remains under the control of the parties may be taken into account. Other factors may also be considered, which need to be discussed. It would be too early to speak specifically about one option or any exchange at this stage. There are matters to be discussed before that stage. Once those points are resolved, the issue can move forward towards a concrete solution.”
Naile Gasimova,
Medianews.az
