Armenian civil society delegation arrives in Baku

A group of Armenian civil society representatives arrived in Baku on a special charter flight on Friday, Azerbaijani media reported. The names of the participants have not been made public. The Airbus A320 flight from Yerevan to the Azerbaijani capital reportedly took 50 minutes.

This visit is taking place in response to the Azerbaijani delegation’s visit to Yerevan on October 21-22. “Civil society representatives from Azerbaijan and Armenia continue their dialogue within the peace agenda outlined after the joint statement adopted in Washington on August 8,” Azerbaijani media said.

The Armenian delegation is believed to include figures who recently took part in a meeting at Armenia’s Security Council office. The Armenian government confirmed this week that it had approved funding for charter flights between Yerevan and Baku. Five experts are scheduled to take part in a roundtable discussion in the Azerbaijani capital on 21–22 November, with the government allocating around 18 million dram for the travel.

Officials say the initiative is intended to deepen contacts between Armenian and Azerbaijani civil society groups and build mechanisms for trust between the two societies.

The earlier visit of the Azerbaijani civil society delegation to Yerevan sparked criticism in Armenia, particularly because it included Dilara Efendiyeva, one of the “eco-activists” involved in the blockade of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh).