Peace comes to South Caucasus, Hikmet Hajiyev says

© Photo: AZERTAC

Azerbaijani leader's aide Hikmet Hajiyev, who was on a visit to Tehran, spoke with Iranian media about the de facto peaceful state of the South Caucasus. He stressed that now it is necessary to legally consolidate this status: the peace treaty between Baku and Yerevan has been agreed upon and it needs to be signed after Armenia fulfills the necessary conditions.

Aide to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, head of the Foreign Policy Department of the Presidential Administration Hikmet Hajiyev, told the Tasnim news agency about the political prospects of the South Caucasus, noting that de facto peace has reigned in the region and it is necessary to consolidate this peaceful state with a corresponding agreement between Baku and Yerevan.

Hikmet Hajiyev arrived in Tehran to participate in the Tehran Dialogue Forum organized by the Iranian authorities in the building of the Iranian Foreign Ministry in memory of Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian, who died a year ago along with President Ebrahim Raisi.

Firstly, Hajiyev drew attention to the active role of Azerbaijan in stabilizing the South Caucasus. Baku developed five principles of the Azerbaijani-Armenian peace treaty and drafted the text of this document, which was then agreed upon by Yerevan. It is important that the treaty is completely ready and can be signed as soon as Armenia fulfills the necessary conditions.

Except for Armenia's stubbornness in its unwillingness to erase claims to Azerbaijani Karabakh from the Constitution and liquidate the OSCE Minsk Group before signing the peace treaty, as well as the facts of the rearmament of the Armenian army, peace in the South Caucasus is not just close, but real.

"Since Azerbaijan and Armenia gained independence, today, there are ideal conditions for peace in the region. We can even say that de facto peace reigns in the region,”

– Hikmet Hajiyev said.

Ilham Aliyev's assistant emphasized that Baku will do everything necessary to sign a peace treaty so that peace in the South Caucasus exists not only de facto, but also de jure. He noted that it was Azerbaijan's actions in previous years that allowed the situation in the region to be radically changed and violations of international law to be eliminated.

"As a result of the policy pursued by Azerbaijan in the South Caucasus region, the Azerbaijani territories were liberated from occupation. A new status quo has emerged in the South Caucasus region, and it is no longer based on occupation and aggression, but on the norms and principles of international law, on legitimacy,”

– Hikmet Hajiyev said.

He also pointed to the significant improvement in relations between Azerbaijan and Iran, which have now entered a new stage of strengthening ties. Baku, for its part, intends to develop them in a mutually beneficial and constructive manner.

"The official visit of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to Azerbaijan, his one-on-one talks with our President Ilham Aliyev and discussions at the delegation level have given new impetus and new breath to the development of Iranian-Azerbaijani relations. Our task, together with our colleagues from Iran, is to advance these relations even further,”

– Hikmet Hajiyev said.