Shahin Hajiyev, the journalist of the Azerbaijani news agency "Turan", traveled to Armenia, where he conducted several interviews with Armenian representatives from politics and civil society. This was reported by several Azerbaijani media outlets, including "Turan" itself. The editor-in-chief of this independent news agency, Mehman Aliyev, said on 5 February that his employee spent three days in Armenia and was on his way back to Azerbaijan. The reports of the journalist will be published soon.
The Azerbaijani journalist's trip to Armenia had been coordinated with both the Azerbaijani and Armenian authorities. The press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Anna Nagdalyan, confirmed this information. Furthermore, Presidential Adviser, Tevan Pogosyan, said on his Facebook account that he had given Shahin Hajiyev an interview.
The Azerbaijani journalist's trip to Armenia took place against the background of the Joint Statement of the OSCE Minsk Group and the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the need to prepare the two peoples for a common and peaceful coexistence given on 16 January. Shortly thereafter, Armenia's public television broadcasted a report on the friendship between the two peoples in the past. The Azerbaijani community of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has intensified its activities since the election of the new chairman Tural Ganjaliyev last year, also expressed its confidence that a peaceful coexistence with the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh could be achieved. Most recently, Ganjaliyev said on 4 February that resolving the longstanding conflict would bring huge economic benefits for Armenia and Azerbaijan. It is firmly believed that two communities can peacefully co-exist, but within internationally recognized borders, according to Ganjaliyev.
Apparently, the conflicting parties are trying to create a positive information background for the talks at the political level. A new meeting between the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan could take place on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, as the two ministers are said to have agreed to attend the conference.
Despite some positive signs that raised hope within the international community, the core positions of the two states seem to be strongly diverging from each other. The Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements on the conflict resolution that he gave recently in Berlin (Caucasus Watch reported) and the subsequent Azerbaijani reactions have made it clear that Baku and Yerevan still have a long way to go and that some painful political decisions still need to be made.
