AZE.US
The latest meeting of the Azerbaijani and Armenian border delimitation commissions shows that the process is no longer limited to technical discussions over the border line, Azerbaijani political analyst Ilgar Velizade said.
Speaking on the YouTube channel Daily Europe Online, Velizade said the talks should be viewed not only through the lens of delimitation and demarcation, but also as part of a broader effort to restore practical contacts between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
He recalled that at the previous meeting, held in Gabala in November last year, the sides agreed on practical steps to unblock economic links. Velizade stressed that the key point is the unblocking of economic ties, not simply transport communications.
According to him, those agreements have already started to be implemented. Azerbaijani goods have been entering Armenia in recent months, including what he described as sensitive product categories.
He also said cargo of various types is regularly transiting through Azerbaijani territory to Armenia. Most of those shipments, he noted, are Russian goods, though some also come from Kazakhstan.
Velizade drew attention to the participation of Armenian business representatives in the latest meeting. In his view, that indicates interest on the Armenian side in eventually supplying Armenian-made goods to the Azerbaijani market.
Armenian officials, he said, have already spoken about the need to make the route work in the opposite direction as well — not only for Azerbaijani goods to enter Armenia, but also for Armenian products to reach Azerbaijan.
According to Velizade, the sides may have discussed possible product categories and mechanisms for future trade in a more practical way.
On delimitation itself, the analyst said Azerbaijan and Armenia are continuing to institutionalize the agreements already reached. The documents approved by the sides, he said, set the parameters of the process and create a basis for further work.
Velizade said this is particularly important given the sensitive political situation in Armenia. With elections approaching and the domestic environment in Yerevan remaining uncertain, he argued, the sides are trying to adopt basic rules that should remain binding regardless of future political changes.
He said the goal is to ensure that the delimitation process and the development of practical contacts do not depend entirely on shifting political conditions in Armenia.
For Velizade, the latest meeting shows that Baku and Yerevan are trying to build a more stable framework for the next stage of normalization – one that connects border work with trade, transit and economic cooperation.
AZE.US