Azerbaijan and Armenia agreed today, Friday, to exchange prisoners, work on normalizing relations, and reach a peace treaty, taking concrete steps to build trust between the two countries. Azerbaijan will release 32 Armenian prisoners of war in exchange for two, all of whom are military personnel, according to a joint statement published by the Azerbaijani state news agency "Azertaj."
The statement said: "The Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan share the vision that there is a historic opportunity to achieve the long-awaited peace in the region, and both countries reaffirm their determination to normalize relations and reach a peace treaty based on respect for the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity."
This breakthrough comes after talks between the offices of the Azerbaijani president and the Armenian prime minister. The statement added: "An agreement was reached to take concrete steps towards building trust between the two countries."
The two neighboring countries have been engaged in a decades-long conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which is located in the Caucasus Mountains.
