Azerbaijan appoints official for dialogue with Armenians in Karabakh: Report

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Azerbaijan on Wednesday appointed an official to hold talks with representatives of the Armenian residents in the country’s Karabakh region, local media reported.

“To that end, on 1 March 2023, in the city of Khojaly, at the headquarters of the Russian Federation’s peacekeeping contingent temporarily deployed in the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Ramin Mammadov held a meeting with the representatives of the Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan,” state news agency Azertac reported.

According to the report, experts from the Azerbaijani Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry, the Economy Ministry, and the AzerGold Closed Joined-Stock Company also attended the meeting in which initial discussions were held regarding the reintegration to Azerbaijan of the Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region.

“Contacts with Armenian residents living in the Karabakh region of the Republic of Azerbaijan will continue. Additional information will be made available,” the report further said.

Meanwhile, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar said on Twitter that the talks held were “encouraging," adding: “Good that discussions appear to have focused both on immediate concerns and broader issues.”

Azerbaijan liberated the Karabakh region from nearly three decades of Armenian occupation in the fall of 2020 after 44 days of heavy fighting.