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Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani Liaison Group (JOLIG)

 The Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani Liaison Group on Confidence-building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus (JOLIG), is an independent initiative bringing together Armenian and Azerbaijani experts in a framework facilitated by LINKS Europe and supported by the European Union. The members of the Group are Ahmad Alili (co-rapporteur); Mehman Aliyev, Stepan Grigorian, Taron Hovhanissian, Shahla Ismayil, Gevorg Melikyan, Johnny Melikyan; Benyamin Poghosyan (co-rapporteur), Ramazan Samadov and Anar Veliyev. All members of the group serve in a personal capacity. The Secretariat of the Group is provided by LINKS Europe.

For more information on the work of JOLIG please contact the co-rapporteurs, or LINKS Europe (office@links-europe.eu)

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Armenian and Azerbaijani experts welcome 7 December statement

Armenian and Azerbaijani experts welcome 7 December statement

The co-rapporteurs of the Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani Liaison Group on Confidence-building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus have issued a statement welcoming the 7 December statement of the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan. They say that the Group discussed the statement which they consider a significant step in the process of normalization of bilateral relations and resumption of negotiations. The statement says, "our Joint Liaison Group has been working since the summer of 2021 to develop ideas on confidence-building measures, and to muster political and popular support for their implementation. Our report of April 2022: “The South Caucasus from war to peace: thirty measures between now and 2030” proposes concrete measures that can be implemented in the short, medium, and long term, not only to achieve peace, but also to subsequently consolidate it. Much has happened since this report was published, and some of the proposals have been overtaken by events, but the need to build trust and confidence remains high.   We join the call on the international community to support the efforts of Armenia and Azerbaijan that will contribute to building mutual trust between two countries and will positively impact the entire South Caucasus region. We call on Armenians and Azerbaijanis to recognise the significance of this moment and support efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region."

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Opinion
Opinion: Armenia and Azerbaijan have embarked on a long and arduous journey towards sustainable peace.

Opinion: Armenia and Azerbaijan have embarked on a long and arduous journey towards sustainable peace.

In this Joint Policy Discussion Paper, Ahmad Alili and Benyamin Poghosyan welcome the start of negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan on a meaningful peace treaty. They warn however that, at all levels, trust between the two sides remains very low and that this will make the process difficult. They urge both sides to conduct the negotiations with a strong sense of realism, and to ensure that the speed of the negotiations is well calibrated.
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Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani expert group on confidence-building measures agrees to intensify efforts

Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani expert group on confidence-building measures agrees to intensify efforts

The Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani Liaison Group on Confidence-building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus (JOLIG), made up of 11 Armenian and Azerbaijani independent experts and opinion-shapers, met in Kachreti, Georgia on 27 and 28 June 2022 to review its activity, and agree on a strategy as to how its work on confidence-building measures can contribute to efforts aimed at bringing lasting peace in the South Caucasus. Participants discussed ongoing efforts aimed at establishing the right conditions for the normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan being undertaken by the governments of the two countries with the support of international players. They called on the leadership of the two countries to remain focused and committed to this mission. The group emphasised its belief that confidence-building measures are necessary to be implemented in the current state of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, and were indispensable as the governments of Armenia and Azerbaijan seek peaceful solutions to long lasting disputes and controversies between them.
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Yerevan meeting welcomes recommendations on confidence-building measures proposed by joint expert group

Yerevan meeting welcomes recommendations on confidence-building measures proposed by joint expert group

The conclusions of the report “The South Caucasus from War to Peace: 30 measures between now and 2030”, recently published by the Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani Working group on Confidence-Building Measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus (JOLIG), were presented in Yerevan on Monday, 30 May to an audience of diplomats, officials and civil society representatives. Armenian members of the Joint Liaison Group: Stepan Grigoryan, Benyamin Poghosyan and Johnny Melikyan, spoke about the process of dialogue with Azerbaijani counterparts in the preparation of the report, and highlighted the report’s conclusions, including thirty recommendations to help the process of building trust and confidence between Armenia and Azerbaijan and Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Addressing the event, the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia, Ambassador Andrea Wiktorin, congratulated the joint Liaison Group for its successful work. She said the report was important and timely and  offered many useful ideas that could be implemented in the short, medium and long term in support of peace in the South Caucasus.
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Armenian and Azerbaijani expert group proposes 30 confidence-building measures to support regional peace

Armenian and Azerbaijani expert group proposes 30 confidence-building measures to support regional peace

The Joint Armenian-Azerbaijani Liaison Group on confidence-building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus has published its report in which it proposes 30 short, medium and long term measures in support of ongoing efforts to establish peace in the region. In their report, "The South Caucasus from war to peace: 30 measures between now and 2030"  the members of the Liaison Group say that Armenia and Azerbaijan and Armenians and Azerbaijanis, need to build the future based on mutual trust and confidence.
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Opinion
Opinion: The people of the South Caucasus deserve a better and more peaceful future

Opinion: The people of the South Caucasus deserve a better and more peaceful future

Ahmad Alili and Stepan Grigoryan are members of a Joint Liaison Group of Armenian and Azerbaijani experts currently finalising a report on how confidence-building measures can support lasting peace in the South Caucasus. In this jointly written paper they say that the crisis in Ukraine has reminded the people of the South Caucasus of the horrors of war. “In the South Caucasus people have suffered enough from violent conflict. They deserve a better and more peaceful future, and all of us should contribute to that objective”, they write in this opinion paper.
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EU tells joint Armenian-Azerbaijani expert group that it stands ready to contribute for stabilisation and confidence-building measures in the South Caucasus.

EU tells joint Armenian-Azerbaijani expert group that it stands ready to contribute for stabilisation and confidence-building measures in the South Caucasus.

“The EU has a profound interest in the security, stability and prosperity of the South Caucasus region as an integral part of the EU Eastern Partnership”. This was stated by the Head of the Cabinet of the European Council president, Charles Michel, in a letter to the three co-rapporteurs of ‘the Joint Liaison Group on confidence building measures in support of lasting peace in the South Caucasus’
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Armenian and Azerbaijani experts say they are on schedule to publish their report on CBMs in March

Armenian and Azerbaijani experts say they are on schedule to publish their report on CBMs in March

Rapporteurs say Armenian and Azerbaijani experts working on a report on how short, medium and long-term confidence building measures can contribute to lasting peace in the South Caucasus are on schedule to publishing their report next March. The group is currently engaging with both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, and a number of interim discussion papers will also be published over the next weeks. 
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 Armenian and Azerbaijani experts send joint recommendations on process of confidence-building in the South Caucasus to Eastern Partnership summit

Armenian and Azerbaijani experts send joint recommendations on process of confidence-building in the South Caucasus to Eastern Partnership summit

In their letter to European Council President, Charles Michel, the experts say that the EU Eastern Partnership Summit on 15 December offers an opportunity for a qualitative step forward in the process of peace in the South Caucasus.