Guterres encourages resumption of Baku-Yerevan border demarcation
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Following the restoration of four villages to Azerbaijan, Guterres has urged the continued demarcation of the shared border between Armenia and Azerbaijan toward full normalization.
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In this November 8, 2020 file photo, Armenian soldiers walk along the road near the border between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia. (AP)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Azerbaijan and Armenia to continue the delimitation and demarcation of their shared border, according to his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric.
In a statement, Dujarric relayed the endorsement of the agreement reached on Friday between the respective State Commissions on the delimitation of the state border between Armenia and Azerbaijan and encouraged the parties to continue the delimitation and demarcation of the remaining sections of the border, as well as tackle all remaining bilateral issues toward achieving full normalization.
The eighth meeting of the commissions on border delimitation between Armenia and Azerbaijan was held on April 19, during which Armenia agreed to restore to Azerbaijan four villages on their shared border.
Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada wrote on X that the return of the four villages was a "long-awaited historic event."
‼️Long-awaited historic event: 📢
— Aykhan Hajizada (@Aykhanh) April 19, 2024
As a result of the 8th meeting of the State Commissions on the delimitation of the state border between #Azerbaijan and #Armenia, Armenia has agreed to return 4 villages of Azerbaijan that were under the occupation since early 1990s. pic.twitter.com/qoHA9urFKv
Armenia's Foreign Ministry announced that the two nations struck an initial agreement on four portions of their contested border.
Azerbaijan has stated that the restoration of the villages is a vital precondition for a peace agreement to end more than 30 years of strife between the two nations, as both are former Soviet Union members.
The deal reached on Friday at a meeting led by both nations' deputy prime ministers was the clearest evidence of movement between the two parties so far.
Armenia-Azerbaijan ICJ battle to continue this month
As military tensions continue to increase between Azerbaijan and Armenia, both countries will battle out a long-running "ethnic cleansing" dispute in the gilded Peace Palace of the International Court of Justice from April 15.
The hearings will continue up until April 26, revolving around objections raised by both parties to each other's original cases filed in September 2021.
In September 2021, both countries filed suits against each other in one week and accused the other of "ethnic cleansing", as well as breaching the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).
In December 2021, the International Court of Justice, whose orders are binding but with no way for enforcement, then ordered both parties to prevent incitement and promotion of racial hatred.
Read more: EU mission reports on Armenia-Azerbaijan borders' escalating tensions
