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Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region
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Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region

2 March 2026
On 27 February 2026, the members of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform met in Antwerp, Belgium, to assess developments in the South Caucasus following the initialling of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on 8 August 2025 at the White House. The members described the present moment as one of major importance for the region and its neighbours, urging leaders and societies alike to use the current momentum to secure long-term peace and prosperity. Established in 2024 with the support of LINKS Europe, the Platform provides a space for direct dialogue and joint analysis between Armenian and Azerbaijani experts. The members also reaffirmed the importance of continued international engagement and expressed strong support for LINKS Europe’s ongoing peacebuilding work in the region. (Click on the image above for the full statement.)
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Thursday Interview: Dr. Anar Valiyev
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Thursday Interview: Dr. Anar Valiyev

27 February 2026
Dr. Anar Valiyev is an Associate Professor of Urban and Public Affairs at ADA University in Baku, Azerbaijan, with more than 18 years of experience in higher education. His research focuses on public policy, urban development, governance, and post-Soviet regional affairs. He holds a PhD in Urban and Public Affairs from the University of Louisville and has published widely on urbanisation, policy reform, and regional connectivity in the South Caucasus and beyond. This week, commonspace.eu spoke with Dr. Valiyev in Brussels ahead of a roundtable jointly organised by LINKS Europe Foundation and the European Policy Centre. He is taking part in a panel discussion focusing on the Armenia–Azerbaijan peace process, its implications for both countries and the wider region, the involvement of the European Union and the United States, and the challenges that lie ahead. In this interview, he reflects on how his research has evolved over nearly two decades in academia, examines the transformative potential of regional connectivity and trade, discusses the strategic role of energy in Azerbaijan’s foreign policy, and highlights the importance of people-to-people ties through education as a form of long-term soft power. (Read the full interview by clicking on the image above)
Lauri Nikulainen interviews Dr. Anar Valiyev
Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to meet next Monday in Vienna

Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to meet next Monday in Vienna

13 May 2016

The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet next Monday, Russian and French officials confirmed on Thursday. 

The last meeting between Presidents Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan was in December 2015 in Bern, Switzerland. The situation has become markedly more tense since then, following four days of fierce fighting at the beginning of April, resulting in dozens of casualties. 

The two men will meet in Vienna where the OSCE is based, according to Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russian’s ministry of foreign affairs and Harlem Désir, France's European minister, confirmed on Thursday.

The two presidents will be joined by Sergei Lavrov, John Kerry and Jean-Marc Ayrault, the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States and France, the three countries which co-chair the OSCE Minsk Group. According to Euractiv, there will be no European Union envoy present.

“In light of the recent violence and the urgency of reducing tensions along the Line of Contact, we believe the time has come for the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to meet,” the Minsk Group said in a statement.

David Babayan, a spokesman for the government of the self-declared Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, voiced his support for the Minsk process and welcomed the upcoming meeting.

“A lot of time is needed to restore the full format, but it has no alternative, especially after this four-day war,” he said.

Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian president Vladimir Putin, said on Thursday that Russia, which brokered the tenuous ceasefire agreement signed on April 5, is willing to help end the conflict. “Moscow welcomes all steps aimed at ending tension in the conflict zone and returning to dialogue to find political settlement option,” he said.

SOURCE: commonspace.eu and agencies

PHOTO: Aliyev and Sargsyan with Russian prime minister Dmitri Medvedev (kremlin.ru)

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Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region
Trending

Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform: Members emphasise the importance of the present moment for the South Caucasus and call for the momentum to be used for the long-term peace and prosperity of the region

2 March 2026
On 27 February 2026, the members of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Strategic Expert Platform met in Antwerp, Belgium, to assess developments in the South Caucasus following the initialling of a peace agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on 8 August 2025 at the White House. The members described the present moment as one of major importance for the region and its neighbours, urging leaders and societies alike to use the current momentum to secure long-term peace and prosperity. Established in 2024 with the support of LINKS Europe, the Platform provides a space for direct dialogue and joint analysis between Armenian and Azerbaijani experts. The members also reaffirmed the importance of continued international engagement and expressed strong support for LINKS Europe’s ongoing peacebuilding work in the region. (Click on the image above for the full statement.)

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Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov
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Thursday Interview: Murad Muradov

15 January 2026
Today, commonspace.eu starts a new regular weekly series. THURSDAY INTERVIEW, conducted by Lauri Nikulainen, will host  persons who are thinkers, opinion shapers, and implementors in their countries and spheres. We start the series with an interview with Murad Muradov, a leading person in Azerbaijan's think tank community. He is also the first co-chair of the Action Committee for a new Armenian-Azerbaijani Dialogue. Last September he made history by being the first Azerbaijani civil society activist to visit Armenia after the 44 day war, and the start of the peace process. Speaking about this visit Murad Muradov said: "My experience was largely positive. My negative expectations luckily didn’t play out. The discussions were respectful, the panel format bringing together experts from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkey was particularly valuable during the NATO Rose-Roth Seminar in Yerevan, and media coverage, while varied in tone, remained largely constructive. Some media outlets though attempted to represent me as more of a government mouthpiece than an independent expert, which was totally misleading.  Overall, I see these initiatives as important steps in rebuilding trust and normalising professional engagement. The fact that soon a larger Azerbaijani civil society visits to Armenia followed, reinforces the sense that this process is moving in the right direction." (click the image to read the interview in full)
Murad Muradov
Lauri Nikulainen interviews Murad Muradov