Armenian and Azerbaijani officials announced on Thursday that they have finalised the text of a peace deal aimed at ending the nearly four-decade-old conflict between the South Caucasus states over Nagorno-Karabakh.
This is a significant and surprising breakthrough in a peace process that has stalled many times and proved difficult for a long time.
The two post-Soviet states have been locked in hostility since the late 1980s. At that time, Nagorno-Karabakh was a region of Azerbaijan with a predominantly ethnic Armenian population that had seceded from Azerbaijan.
The dispute over the region has led to several wars over the years, but the agreed text now raises hopes for a lasting solution to the long-standing conflict.
Background to the conflict
The mountainous landlocked region of Nagorno-Karabakh was internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but had an ethnic Armenian majority supported by Armenia. This situation created tensions between the two neighbours.
Until recently, much of Nagorno-Karabakh was administered by the unrecognised "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic", also known as the "Republic of Artsakh".
Although Armenia never officially recognised the region's independence, it became its main financial and military supporter and the territory functioned de facto as part of Armenia.
After many years of intermittent fighting with occasional outbreaks of violence, Azerbaijani forces quickly took control of the area in September 2023 with the help of Turkish drones and defeated Armenian forces in a brief battle.
Most ethnic Armenians fled and on 1 January 2024 the "Nagorno-Karabakh Republic" was formally dissolved.
Iran welcomes agreements between the Republic of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the terms of the peace deal
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei Welcomed by a report on the agreement between the Republic of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the terms of a peace agreement between the two countries, describing it as a necessary and important step towards achieving lasting peace in the South Caucasus region.
The spokesman expressed the hope that "thanks to the determination of both sides to resolve disputes through dialogue and diplomacy, we will soon see the signing of a peace agreement between the two countries and lasting peace and stability in the region".
euronews/ gnews.cz - RoZ
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