President: Azerbaijan-Nakhchivan connectivity must be clarified with Armenia [UPDATE]

President Ilham Aliyev has said that the railway and highway connectivity between Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic needs to be clarified with Armenia.

He made the remarks while receiving a delegation led by European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia Toivo Klaar on April 19.

“One of the issues that needs to be clarified with the Armenian side is the issue of communications with Azerbaijan and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. I mean both railway and highway,” he said.

Noting that Azerbaijan has built more than 60 km of the railway and will complete the construction next year, the president emphasized that unfortunately, Armenia has not yet started working on the feasibility study, which indicates that the process can be delayed.

As for the highway, Aliyev stated that Azerbaijan is actively building it, and most of the road has already been built. He also expressed hope that the highway will reach the Armenian border by the end of next year.

“Unfortunately, the Armenian prime minister did not specify the geographical coordinates during the meeting in Brussels. I raised this issue in a video conference on February 4, but there was no answer. On April 6, I asked for the geographical coordinates of the road again, but there was still no answer. I do hope we will get it soon,” he said.

Speaking about the trilateral meeting held in Brussels, the president noted that it was very constructive and produced good results and achievements.

“I would like to thank [EU Council] President Charles Michel for his efforts and for creating an atmosphere that has allowed us the opportunity to discuss very important issues and agree on the beginning of the normalization process,” he said.

He stated that it was the starting point because the parties have agreed to establish border commissions and, at the same time, working groups on a peace agreement.

“We have talked about this before, and as you know, after the second Karabakh war, Azerbaijan's position has always been that we should start negotiations around a peace agreement. I think the official starting point was in Brussels on April 6. Since then, we have been working, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been working, and my administration has been in contact with your team, so we are ready to start, as we agreed,” he said.

The president stressed the importance to continue this progress and that both sides adhere to the agreements reached.

“In general though, I consider the results of the meeting in Brussels positive. I announced this to the public on April 12,” he said.

He recalled that the next day, the Armenian prime minister also spoke openly about the normalization process and Armenia’s acceptance of the five principles put forward by Azerbaijan.

“This indeed is a turning point in the process. I think these are positive comments. Now, after this official statement from both sides, we must prove our seriousness on the table,” he said.

Aliyev noted that there are high hopes for the efforts of the European Union, especially President Charles Michel, who is already heavily involved in the process.

“He is already quite familiar with the process. I think this creates a very promising environment for successful negotiations. So we will discuss this in more detail today. I just wanted to express our official position on the events in Brussels and the events that took place after April 6,” he said.

In turn, Toivo Klaar underlined the need to work to ensure the implementation and continuation of the agreed issues.

“That is the purpose of my visit. I will be here today to hear what you view as the next steps and to learn what we as the European Union can do to support the normalization process, to work towards a comprehensive settlement, and I will go to Yerevan in the second half of the week,” he said.