Baku, Paris mull situation on Azerbaijani-Armenian border

By Azernews

By Vafa Ismayilova

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian have discussed the latest situation on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border, the Foreign Ministry reported on May 16.

At a telephone conversation, which took place at France's initiative, on May 16, 2021, the two men focused on issues related to the recent tensions on the Azerbaijani-Armenian border.

Minister Jeyhun Bayramov informed his interlocutor about the measures taken after a long time to strengthen the border with Armenia, in particular, the deployment of the Azerbaijani border forces in the positions belonging to the country, Azerbaijan's constructive approach to resolving existing disagreements and tensions between the sides, including the immediate visit of the leadership of the State Border Service to the region and negotiations with the opposite side, the ministry said.

Bayramov stressed the inadmissibility of exaggeration and politicization of the border tensions and the importance of resolving such issues through negotiations.

The ministers also held a general exchange of views on post-conflict issues.

Earlier, Bayramov stated that Armenia's appeal to the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) over the tensions related to the delimitation and demarcation of the two states' borders has no basis and is nothing but an attempt by the Armenian authorities to politicize the issue.

Armenia appealed to Russa-led CSTO to hold consultations over its border dispute with Azerbaijan months after the 44-day war in and around Azerbaijan's Karabakh region in autumn 2020. 

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry has repeatedly rejected Armenia's claim that Azerbaijani troops had crossed several kilometers into its southern border. Baku said that Azerbaijani troops were taking up positions on the country's own borders and added that the Armenian leadership is trying to politicize the issue ahead of the June snap parliamentary elections. 

The hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia resumed after that latter started firing at Azerbaijani civilians and military positions starting September 27, 2020. The war ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.

The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani Army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres and historic Shusha city. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.