Armenia-Azerbaijan Border Delimitation Negotiations: Public Left Uninformed After Crucial Meeting

Direct negotiations between Yerevan and Baku on the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border have left the public in the dark. The sixth joint session, held on Wednesday, January 31, brought together senior officials from both sides, Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian representing Armenia and his Azerbaijani counterpart Shahin Mustfayev. However, the aftermath of the meeting has been met with an unusual silence.

Despite the significance of these talks, neither Yerevan nor Baku has released any information, and attempts by The Armenian Report to obtain comments from the Deputy Ministry have been met with silence. Surprisingly, no other media outlet, whether Armenian or Azerbaijani, has covered this crucial meeting.

The lack of transparency is raising concerns about the progress and outcomes of the negotiations. The joint session aimed at discussing border demarcation and delimitation in a relatively peaceful section of the heavily militarized frontier. Both sides issued brief, identical statements, providing no insights into the agenda, details of the talks, or any agreements reached.

Prior to this meeting, Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan expressed hope that the talks would bring more clarity to the delimitation problem. However, he acknowledged the ongoing disagreement between Baku and Yerevan over a concrete mechanism for delineating the border.

Simonyan emphasized Armenia's preference for using the most recent Soviet military maps from the 1970s, while Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in early January, rejected the idea, claiming it favored the Armenian side. Aliyev accused Armenia of occupying “eight Azerbaijani villages" and insisted on their return as a priority in the delimitation talks.

Deputy Prime Minister Grigorian countered Aliyev's claims, stating that the Armenian and Azerbaijani government commissions would compare maps and discuss procedural issues. The Azerbaijani side proposed signing a peace treaty before border demarcation, while Yerevan insisted on incorporating legally binding principles of the delimitation process into the treaty.