The meetings of the Peace Bridge initiative were held in a 5+5 format. Initially, representatives of the Azerbaijani side arrived in Yerevan, after which our side, with a five-member delegation, visited Baku. In the second phase, we significantly expanded the engagement, and the meetings were already held in a 20+20 format. This was stated during a press conference by Areg Kochinyan, President and Coordinator of the Armenian Council analytical center.
“At first, the Azerbaijani side visited Armenia. This time, they entered Armenia through the delimited and demarcated section of the Armenia–Azerbaijan border, passing all relevant procedures - passport and customs control. In a similar manner, we also visited Azerbaijan through the delimited and demarcated section, going through all the relevant border procedures,” the expert noted.
In his opinion, the fact that the fourth meeting in this format is taking place, and that there is a clear agreement that the meetings will continue, is already a significant achievement. “I believe we cannot have overly high expectations from this format—that after 38 years of conflict, major changes should occur in society as a result of four meetings between experts, civil society representatives, and media representatives. However, the very fact that these meetings are taking place, expanding, and continuing is, in my opinion, quite important,” Areg Kochinyan noted.
“The second point I would like to make is that you can list dozens of reasons, and I can add hundreds more, as to why we should not go to Azerbaijan and why Azerbaijani delegations should not come to Armenia—related to timing, visits, content, format, and statements. I can point to one reason why these visits should take place: in my assessment, these visits contribute to advancing the peace agenda, help establish peace between the societies of Armenia and Azerbaijan, and to some extent also support the peace agenda being promoted by the authorities of both countries.
During our meetings, the leadership of both Armenia and Azerbaijan assures us, informs us, urges us, and convinces us that there is already peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, that peace has already been established and is now in a phase of expansion and deepening. This is probably important, because we often, when discussing details, processes, and our daily news flow, somewhat blur or forget the bigger picture. Saying this leads me to the third point I want to make: we are often accused of forgetting, forgiving, consigning tragedy to oblivion, or denying it. I would like, although we have spoken about this many times, to address this issue once again. The Peace Bridge initiative is not about forgetting, denying, altering, correcting, or editing the past. The Peace Bridge of Peace’ initiative is about forming new narratives and new opportunities alongside existing narratives, existing history, and existing reality. Whether it will succeed or not—naturally, no one can guarantee, just as no one can guarantee the success or failure of the peace process, as it is connected to many processes. One thing is certain: neither our work nor the other efforts aimed at establishing peace are guaranteed to succeed, but it is guaranteed that if such efforts are not undertaken, peace will never be achieved,” said the President of the Armenian Council analytical center.
