The Armenian and Azerbaijani commissions on border delimitation have held a meeting in the city of Gabala, Azerbaijan, marking their first such meeting inside either country. During the discussions, they agreed to host their next meeting in an Armenian city.
The commissions are headed by Armenian Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan and Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Shahin Mustafayev, respectively.
According to a statement by the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the sides ‘had a detailed exchange of views on organisational and technical matters related to the delimitation measures’.
The meeting, held on 28 November, marked their 12th encounter, which had previously mostly taken place along the shared border. The last such meeting was held in January.
Back then, the two sides reached an agreement on starting ‘the complex of works on the delimitation of the state border from the northern section’ — the intersection bordering Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia — and then in the southern direction, to the border of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.
‘The drafts of relevant guidelines for the procedures on carrying out delimitation works were also discussed’, the statement regarding the 28 November meeting read.
The statement also noted that Grigoryan and Mustafayev ‘held a tête-à-tête exchange of views on issues of mutual interest’.
‘The parties agreed to set the date of the next meeting in one of the cities of the Republic of Armenia through working-level consultations’, the statement concluded.
Gigoryan’s visit to Azerbaijan was among the latest reciprocal visits between Armenia and Azerbaijan that began after the Washington summit in August, which saw the initialling of a peace treaty, as well as an agreement to construct the Trump Route, connecting Azerbaijan its exclave Nakhchivan via Armenia.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Armenia–Turkey meetings
Aside from the high-profile Armenia–Azerbaijan meeting, Armenian and Turkish officials also met in Istanbul.
The meeting between Economy Minister Gevorg Papoyan and his Turkish counterpart İbrahim Yumaklı took place on Saturday. According to Papoyan, they discussed ‘the possibilities of reopening the Kars–Gyumri railway connection and the new economic, logistical, and trade opportunities for both countries arising through the TRIPP project’.
Papoyan further said that they touched upon the opportunities for ‘market diversification, the creation of new logistical routes, and the expansion of mutual economic interests’.
They also discussed issues related to cooperation in the agricultural sector.
A day prior, Armenia hosted a meeting between Armenian and Turkish representatives at the Akyaka–Akhurik border crossing between Armenia and Turkey, and in Gyumri.
They discussed ‘the second stage of technical discussions aimed at the rehabilitation and reactivation of the Kars–Gyumri railway’, Armenpress quoted the Armenian envoy for the Armenia–Turkey normalisation process, Ruben Rubinyan, as saying.
