Armenia says interested in restoring railway communication with Azerbaijan

ISTANBUL

Armenia is interested in restoring railway communication with Azerbaijan, Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said on Monday.

“We are not only ready, but also interested in re-establishing transport communication, in particular, in the first stage, railway communication with Azerbaijan,” Mirzoyan told a press conference with his Maltese counterpart Ian Borg in the capital Yerevan.

Mirzoyan conveyed Armenia’s interest in the re-establishment of transport communications “understanding that all infrastructures will remain under the sovereignty of the countries through which they pass, will operate according to the jurisdiction of those countries, and the regulations will be mutual and in accordance with the principle of equality.”

He said he informed Borg of the current situation in the region, as well as developments with regards to the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the latest talks held in the Kazakh city of Astana last week, which he described as "constructive."

“In this context, I emphasized ... that the political basis of the border demarcation process should be the Alma-Ata Declaration of 1991,” the minister added.

Relations between Baku and Yerevan have remained tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.

Most of the territory was liberated by Azerbaijan during a 44-day war in the fall of 2020, which ended after a Russian-brokered peace agreement that opened the door to normalization and the demarcation of their border.

Last September, Azerbaijan established full sovereignty in Karabakh following an "anti-terrorist operation" after which separatist forces in the region surrendered.​​​​​​​