“As you know, there is no direct flight from Baku to Yerevan. We went to Yerevan on a special flight. We clearly felt how surprised the airport employees were to see our plane with the word 'Azerbaijan' written on it, and how they looked at us and our plane with amazement.” These words were said by Farhad Mammadov, the director of the South Caucasus Research Center, in an interview with Medianews.az.
On October 21-22, a bilateral roundtable was organized in Yerevan with the participation of representatives of Azerbaijani and Armenian civil societies. Farhad Mammadov, Rusif Huseynov, Ramil Iskanderli, Kamala Mammadova, and Dilara Efendiyeva represented Azerbaijan, while Armenia was represented by Areg Kochinyan, Boris Navasardyan, Naira Sultanyan, Narek Minasyan, and Samvel Meliksetyan.
In an interview with Medianews.az, Farhad Mammadov recalled that this roundtable was held in accordance with the spirit of the Joint Declaration adopted in Washington on August 8 and aimed at promoting the peace agenda: “At the same time, this was the first meeting in this format. That is, after the acceptance of the peace agenda in Washington, it was the first time that representatives of the civil societies of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in a bilateral format. The main topic discussed was how civil societies could support the peace agenda formed after the Washington meeting. Because governments are already engaged in joint activities on many dimensions. An official negotiation platform exists. Therefore, a favorable environment has developed for civil societies to also join this process.”
Responding to the question “Were there persons among the Armenian civil society representatives attending the meeting whom you have known for a long time?”, Farhad Mammadov said: “Of course, we have been acquainted with experts from Armenia for a long time. But we have always met in third countries, within international events, peacebuilding projects organized by foreign organizations. This was the first time we met in a bilateral format. At the same time, we were not only participants but also organizers of this meeting. And we gathered not in a third country but in the capital of one of the two countries. I would like to emphasize the landing of a plane belonging to Azerbaijan Airlines, with 'Azerbaijan' written on it, in the capital of Armenia as a very significant event.”
During the trip, the participants also met with Armen Grigoryan, the Secretary of the Security Council of Armenia. According to Farhad Mammadov, that meeting was also quite sincere: “We had an open exchange of views. We tried to clarify the situation for ourselves and discuss what contributions the public, civil society groups, experts, and media could make to the peacebuilding process. In my opinion, like official formats, this format will also be sustainable and continuous, and civil societies will be able to contribute to the peace process.”
Farhad Mammadov also noted that the security of the Azerbaijani representatives was sufficiently ensured, and that they had an opportunity to take a group walk in Yerevan to get acquainted with the city.
Let us recall that on August 8, the President of Azerbaijan and the Prime Minister of Armenia signed a Joint Declaration in Washington in the presence of the US President, undertaking the obligation to establish neighboring relations based on the inviolability of borders and the inadmissibility of the use of force for territorial acquisition, and the foreign ministers of the two countries initialed a draft agreement on the establishment of peace and interstate relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Also in Washington, the creation of a corridor passing through Armenia connecting the main part of Azerbaijan with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic was agreed upon. This project will be realized under the patronage of the United States.
Nailə Qasımova,
Medianews.az
