The Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Alen Simonyan, made notable statements to journalists. He stated that he is ready to visit Azerbaijan at an appropriate time and intends to invite his counterpart (Sahiba Gafarova-ed.) to Armenia in some format.
Alen Simonyan's statement increases the likelihood that parliamentary delegations will take a similar step after the reciprocal visits of civil society representatives to Yerevan and Baku.
Rasim Musabayov, a member of the International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, told Modern.az that A. Simonyan's visit to Baku is not yet expected:
"A peace agreement has not yet been signed between Azerbaijan and Armenia, and there are no diplomatic relations. Such meetings are possible within the framework of international events. Deputies meet within the framework of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. I do not rule out that there may be a special meeting among deputies. In any case, chairpersons also meet at the level of international events. I have no information that Simonyan's visit to Azerbaijan is planned. As far as I know, no invitation has been sent to him, but in any case, Simonyan demonstrates that he is a supporter of reconciliation."
R. Musabayov emphasized that there is no need for reciprocal visits of parliamentary delegations in the current situation:
"What is the purpose of such a meeting among deputies, what will it solve? Every meeting should have a purpose, but this meeting has no purpose. Such an issue is not currently on the agenda."
However, Nasib Mahamaliyev, another member of the International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Relations Committee of the Milli Majlis, believes that visits by parliamentary speakers would be more appropriate after the signing of a peace agreement:
"I believe that we have entered a peace process. This process needs to be advanced step by step. There is a term called "people's diplomacy." It is inevitable that peoples who have been hostile and lived in conflict for many years will eventually reconcile. We are neighboring states, and our relations should be built on the principles of good neighborliness. We must cooperate. I view the organization of reciprocal visits by our civil society institutions as normal. However, I think that visits by parliamentary speakers would be more appropriate after the signing of a peace agreement. A very crucial political process is approaching for the Armenian government and people. Parliamentary elections will be held there in June next year. All polls show that the Pashinyan government is ahead in the ratings. Nevertheless, there are sufficient forces internally that seek revenge. There are also external forces that do not want the restoration of stability in the region. It is no secret to anyone that a geopolitical struggle is ongoing between the West and Russia. From this perspective, I believe that high-level visits would be more appropriate after a peace agreement is signed."
According to N. Mahamaliyev, reciprocal visits of parliamentary delegations cannot be ruled out:
"Reciprocal visits and meetings of parliamentary delegations can take place. Even during the conflict, our deputies participated in events of international organizations in Yerevan, and Armenian deputies participated in events in Baku. There is nothing wrong with this. Especially in the current situation – during the peace-building process. I view this as normal and believe that reciprocal visits can contribute more to the overall cause."
