Elin Suleymanov: The South Caucasus has shown the world the path from conflict to normalization through trade
The South Caucasus has become an example of how even the most irreconcilable adversaries can move from years of conflict to the normalization of relations through diplomacy and the development of trade.
As 1news.az reports, this was stated in an article by Azerbaijan's Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Elin Suleymanov, for The Telegraph newspaper.
The ambassador emphasized that one of the first results of direct contacts between Baku and Yerevan after the Second Karabakh War was Armenia's decision at the end of 2023 to support Azerbaijan's candidacy to host COP29. The climate conference took place in Baku a year later.
The sides have also agreed on the procedure for delimiting the border and are discussing cooperation within the framework of the TRIPP project — the Trump International Route for Peace and Prosperity.
"Economic ties between our countries began to develop actively even before the completion of negotiations on TRIPP. A year ago, a breakthrough decision was made to lift restrictions on transit to Armenia. Cargo intended for Armenia began to travel through the territory of Azerbaijan. Two months later, Azerbaijan carried out its first delivery of domestically produced gasoline to Armenia, and by the middle of this year the volume of petroleum products successfully exported from Azerbaijan to the neighboring country reached tens of thousands of tons," he noted.
According to him, the new regional supply chain has made it possible to reduce domestic fuel prices in Armenia by 20-30% and is helping to reduce the country's excessive dependence in the field of electricity generation on a single Soviet-era, Chernobyl-type nuclear power plant.
"Few dared to imagine at the height of the war in 2020 what became possible just six years later. The South Caucasus has shown the world that even the most irreconcilable adversaries are capable of traveling the path to normalization through diplomatic and trade relations. The next step will be the conclusion of a treaty formalizing this peace. We must hope that other parts of the world torn apart by war will be able to draw courage and hope from what we have achieved," the diplomat concluded.
