Month: February 2024

The foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan concluded talks in Berlin on Thursday, saying that they agreed to continue negotiations on remaining unresolved issues.

Talks between Ararat Mirzoyan and Jeyhum Bayramov kicked of at the Villa Borsig in Germany’s capital on Wednesday, with one session being held with their German counterpart Annalena Baerbock.

“The ministers and their delegations discussed perspectives on the provisions of the draft bilateral Agreement on Establishment of Peace and Interstate Relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Mutual agreement was expressed to continue negotiations on the open issues,” Armenia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Ani Badalyan said in a statement, without elaborating on the so-called unresolved issues.

The talks were held against the backdrop of the 36th anniversary of Azerbaijani pogroms of Armenians in Sumgait, which served a precursor to other such brutal attacks against Armenians in Kirovabad, Baku, Maraga, Shahumyan and elsewhere.

The negotiations also followed two attacks by Azerbaijani forces against Armenian positions in the Gegharkunik and Syunik provinces, during the latter of which four Armenian soldiers were killed.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan met on the margins of the annual Munich Security Conference. That meeting was mediated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“We, as the Federal Government, support peace talks wherever possible. So that wounds can heal and people can achieve peace. Every meter on the way there matters,” Baerbock, the German foreign minister, said in a social media post after the talks.

Edmond Marukyan, who has been serving as an ambassador at-large in the foreign ministry, tendered his resignation on Thursday citing fundamental differences in Armenia’s current foreign policy.

Markukyan, who until his appointment in 2022, was the leader of opposition Bright Armenia party and also challenged Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on his post-war policies, vocally opposition the regime.

“In a challenging period for our state and region, I undertook this mission with great responsibility and dedication. However, recently, the differences in our views on several fundamental foreign policy issues make it impossible for me to continue my participation in the foreign policy front,” Marukyan said in social media posts on Thursday.

“I assure you that I will continue to serve the state and the people, investing my knowledge and experience, as well as my international relations, in defending the national and state interests of the Republic of Armenia,” Marukyan added.

The prime minister’s office had not responded to the resignation at press time.