Baku, September 4, 2025
Discussions around the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process have intensified following the dissolution of the OSCE Minsk Group and a series of recent encounters between the leaders of the two countries.
During an interview on the YouTube channel Daily Europe Online, Azerbaijani legal scholar Professor Namiq Aliyev noted that President Ilham Aliyev and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan “spoke cordially” on the sidelines of the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. He also mentioned a separate meeting between the First Ladies of Azerbaijan and Armenia.
According to Aliyev, a peace treaty has already been initialed, though lasting confidence in its implementation is not yet fully established. He emphasized that a durable settlement would require acknowledgment from Armenia of its responsibility for the occupation of Azerbaijani territories and the destruction that occurred there.
“Repentance,” Aliyev said, would serve as a guarantee against the return of revanchism.
The interview also touched on domestic debates in Armenia. Aliyev pointed to the failure of an opposition-backed bill aimed at tightening penalties related to genocide denial, a proposal not supported by Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party. He noted that Armenian society did not mobilize in protest against either the bill’s defeat or the disbanding of the Minsk Group, which he interpreted as a sign of growing acceptance of peace with Azerbaijan.
Aliyev further observed that within Armenia there are “two parties — the party of peace and the party of war,” and that recent developments suggest the former has grown stronger. If this trajectory continues, he said, there will be no obstacles to signing a final peace agreement, once constitutional changes in Armenia address provisions that question Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.
On the broader regional dynamic, the discussion also compared the foreign policy strategies of Pashinyan and Aliyev. The Armenian leader, Aliyev noted, has been pursuing a more balanced approach — maintaining relations with Russia, while also moving to normalize ties with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and engaging with Europe, Iran, and Central Asia. Observers suggested that Pashinyan has learned from President Ilham Aliyev’s style of foreign policy leadership.
