Sawt Falasteen - Azerbaijan, Armenia say peace deal ready for signing

A deal to normalise ties would be a major breakthrough in a region where Russia, the EU, the United States and Turkey all jostle for influence.

Baku and Yerevan fought two wars for control of Azerbaijan's Armenian-populated region of Karabakh: at the end of the Soviet Union and again in 2020, before Azerbaijan seized the entire area in a 24-hour offensive in September 2023.

Both countries have repeatedly said a comprehensive peace deal to end their long-standing animosity is within reach, but previous talks had failed to reach consensus on a draft agreement.

"The negotiation process on the text of the peace agreement with Armenia has been concluded," Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov told reporters.

"Armenia has accepted Azerbaijan's proposals on the two previously unresolved articles of the peace treaty," he said.

Armenia's foreign ministry later confirmed this in a statement, saying "negotiations on the draft agreement have been concluded" and "the Peace Agreement is ready for signing".

But in a hint at the enduring tensions, Armenia criticised Azerbaijan for making a statement unilaterally rather than issuing a joint one.

Yerevan said it was ready to start talks with Azerbaijan on the "dates and location for signing the Agreement".

Pashinyan has recognised Baku's sovereignty over Karabakh after three decades of Armenian separatist rule -- a move seen as a crucial first step towards the normalisation of relations.

Armenia also last year returned to Azerbaijan four border villages it had seized decades earlier.

- Armenia-Russia tension -

Tensions over the conflict have also driven a wedge between Armenia and Russia, Yerevan having accused its ally of not doing enough to support it.

Armenia last year suspended its participation in the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) over the bloc's failure to come to its aid in the conflict with Azerbaijan.

Russia, the United States and the European Union have all tried to play a mediating role at various times in the conflict.

In late January, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said that two out of 17 points in the draft peace agreement remained unresolved.

Armenia's Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said the same in a speech to parliament on Wednesday.

One key issue was disagreement over the "non-deployment of third-party forces" along the countries' shared border, Pashinyan said.

He suggested that such deployments should be allowed "in the sections of the border where demarcation has already been carried out."

There were also disagreements over plans for both sides to withdraw legal cases from international judicial bodies.

- Constitutional changes -

The two countries remain locked in legal battles in the International Court of Justice, International Criminal Court and the European Court of Human Rights over allegations of rights violations committed before, during and after their armed conflicts.

"We need to be certain that we are not only withdrawing the cases from international courts but also renouncing them altogether," Pashinyan said.

"Otherwise, a situation may arise where both sides withdraw their cases from international courts but at the next stage Azerbaijan raises these issues bilaterally, potentially leading to escalation."

Azerbaijan's "next expectation from Armenia is constitutional amendments," said Foreign Minister Bayramov.

Baku is demanding Armenia remove from its constitution a reference to its declaration of independence, which asserts territorial claims over Karabakh.

Any such amendments to Armenia's constitution would require a referendum.

Nearly all ethnic Armenians -- more than 100,000 people -- fled Karabakh after its takeover by Baku.

F.AbuShamala--SF-PST