A military post along the Armenia-Azerbaijan border

Azerbaijan said it will not withdraw its troops from the Armenia-Azerbaijan border, once again rejecting Yerevan’s proposal to simultaneously withdraw troops as talks to delimit and demarcate the border between the two countries are continuing.

“The Armenian-Azerbaijani border is not delimited, which is a rather difficult problem. If the troops are withdrawn without reaching a full agreement, who can guarantee that one of the sides will not take positions again?,” Azerbaijan’s foreign minister Jeyhum Bayramov said Thursday during a press conference in Baku.

“Today, the Azerbaijani army protects the borders of Azerbaijan, which is logical. The Azerbaijani army did not come, stand on these borders by anyone’s good will or invitation. The Azerbaijani army has liberated its lands after 30 years of bloodshed and is standing at the borders today. Our principle approach is that only Azerbaijani soldiers can protect the border of Azerbaijan, it cannot be trusted to a third party; it is the sovereign right of Azerbaijan,” added Bayramov.

“We advise Armenia to pay attention to our constructive proposals. In this case, matters can proceed positively,” Bayramov added.

Ruling Party lawmaker Arsen Torosyan called Bayramov’s approach “baseless” and accused Azerbaijan of rejecting Armenia’s proposal as a way to strengthen Baku’s position during negotiations.

“If Baku’s true intention is to achieve peace, then they should agree to this and other already announced principles,” Torosyan said.

“They [Azerbaijani officials] are advancing a strange notion that there are no maps and there is no delimitation, where in reality all those elements exist. With the 1991 Alma Ata Declaration, both republics became independence with their Soviet administrative borders,” Torosyan pointed out.

According to official Yerevan, since the 2020 War, Azerbaijan has occupied some 150 square kilometers of territory in Armenia’s Syunik, Vayots Dzor and Gegharkunik provinces. Torosyan said that if the two countries recognize each other’s borders based on the Alma Ata Declaration, then territorial integrity will be reaffirmed with the borders.

“The issue is the delimitation and demarcation of the entire border, not only with Azerbaijan but also Nakhichevan. During the conflict, both the recent encroachments and clashes in the 1990’s, the violated borders must be reinstated,” added Torosyan.