Farhad Mammadov: Baku-Yerevan peace process opens new opportunities

The peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is opening up new opportunities for the South Caucasus.

Farhad Mammadov, coordinator of the Peace Bridge initiative and director of the Center for South Caucasus Studies, said this at the Yerevan Dialogue 2026 international conference, Report informs via Armenian media.

He noted that the peace agenda between the two countries and the sequence of steps toward peace was agreed in Washington in August 2025.

Mammadov said this creates conditions for the signing of a peace agreement between Azerbaijan and Armenia, the normalization of relations between Armenia and Türkiye, and the opening of communications. He added that this opens up new opportunities for the South Caucasus, while the countries of the region themselves act as the main driving forces of change.

According to Mammadov, the South Caucasus is involved in many international and regional projects and is being considered as part of the land route of the Middle Corridor, especially within the Belt and Road Initiative.

The expert added that Azerbaijan and Armenia are holding talks in a bilateral format without the involvement of third parties. He said this was progress that made it possible to resolve complex issues and prevented external actors from manipulating the process.