As part of the Peace Bridge initiative, our visits to Baku will be ongoing, and similarly, visits to Armenia by Azerbaijani experts, civil society representatives will also be ongoing. Areg Kochinyan, a member of a group of Armenian civil society representatives, told a press conference Monday. He, together with four others, had visited the Azerbaijani capital Baku on November 21 and 22.

Kochinyan noted that in both Armenia and Azerbaijan, the relevant authorities were engaged in organizing their visit and ensuring their safety. “We asked our Azerbaijani colleagues how they felt in [Armenian capital] Yerevan. They answered: quite safe. I can say the same regarding safety on our part,” he added.

In Baku, the aforesaid Armenian civil society members met also with Hikmat Hajiyev, an aide to the president of Azerbaijan.

“Hikmat Hajiyev asked that the Armenian public be conveyed that the war is over, for Azerbaijan there is no longer a war. For them, the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is over. They want to build peace from this non-war situation and move toward peace. It is extremely important for them to convey this message to Armenia’s society through us, as they mentioned, that they want to build comprehensive and long-term peace with Armenia and are ready to move forward along that path. It is also extremely important that Azerbaijan has no territorial claims against Armenia,” Kochinyan said.