For first time, Armenian National Security Service delegation visits Baku: what Yerevan expects from trip

Armenian National Security Service delegation in Baku

A delegation of Armenia’s National Security Service arrived in Baku on the evening of 19 September. It is headed by the director of the National Security Service, Andranik Simonyan. The Armenian delegation is reported to be taking part in the 3rd International Security Forum. Armenia’s National Security Service also announced that the forum will conclude on 21 September. No further details have yet been provided regarding this first such visit of an Armenian delegation to Azerbaijan.

It is known that the delegation departed Yerevan on a Gulfstream G450 aircraft, designed for 16 passengers, owned by FlyOne. The plane landed at Heydar Aliyev International Airport yesterday at 20:12. The flight from Yerevan to Baku lasted 50 minutes.

• Thomas de Waal: Peace between Yerevan and Baku is possible, but not guaranteed
• “Baku not only gained dividends in Washington but also made concessions to Yerevan” – Opinion
• Armenian prisoners in Baku: reports of suicide attempts and hunger strikes, and Yerevan’s response

Comment

Commentary
Political analyst Armine Margaryan wrote on her Facebook page that she had to reread the news of the Armenian National Security Service delegation’s visit to Azerbaijan several times before she could believe it:

“The fact is that high-level contacts between Armenia and Azerbaijan almost always took place within the negotiation process and almost always confidentially. That is, when Armenians met with Azerbaijanis, society instinctively understood that it was about the conflict and issues related to its settlement. Neither we nor the Azerbaijanis were accustomed to contacts in other formats. And that was normal. Or rather, it used to be normal.

After the Washington agreements of 8 August, this norm must change — both at the political level and in our mindset.

It is necessary to use every possible platform for meetings and to listen and hear each other. And if such a platform happens to be Yerevan or Baku, this raises the capitalisation of the peace process to a new level.

The peace process is not a document. The peace process is a change in mindset — ours and that of the Azerbaijanis. And for this, mutual contacts and the gradual building of trust are essential, step by step.

In Baku, our prisoners of war are still being held, and they must be brought home — the sooner the better. And I am convinced that the visit of the delegation headed by the director of the National Security Service to Baku brings us several steps closer to that long-awaited day.”

Armenian National Security Service delegation in Baku