Within the framework of the meeting held in Gabala, regional issues were also discussed; naturally, the events happening in our neighborhood have a significant impact.
“Elchi” reports with reference to Teleqraf that expert of the “Armenian Council” Analytical Center Narek Minasyan stated this at a press conference held in Yerevan.
According to the expert, both sides are in solidarity that, on one hand, the war in Ukraine and, on the other hand, the events surrounding Iran are creating more serious challenges for the South Caucasus:
“Although the South Caucasus has currently turned into an island of stability and peace in a certain sense, tense processes are taking place around it. After the attack on the Nakhchivan airport, Azerbaijan’s concerns in this direction have increased even further. In this regard, it is in the interests of both Armenia and Azerbaijan that the conflict does not expand and the situation stabilizes as quickly as possible.”
Minasyan added that in Gabala, the possible impact of regional events, especially those surrounding Iran, on the implementation of the “Trump Route” or the TRIPP project was also discussed.
He stated that the negotiations in Islamabad ended in failure, and there is high uncertainty regarding how the situation will develop and what consequences this will have for the region.
“One of the noteworthy points is that the Azerbaijani side gave a fairly clear message; according to their approach, Armenia and Azerbaijan are in the same boat in terms of security, regional challenges are common, and therefore, it is necessary to correctly assess the current situation and strengthen it. Along with this, the opinion was also voiced that the current level of relations between the two countries and the results achieved in the settlement process create a certain security immunity. Otherwise, the risk of interference by third countries would be higher, and the conflict in the region could expand geographically,” Minasyan added.
It should be recalled that on April 10-12, a bilateral round table was held in Gabala with the participation of civil society representatives from Azerbaijan and Armenia within the framework of the “Peace Bridge” initiative.