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April 2022 marked the second International Conference on “South Caucasus: Development and Cooperation,” which was launched in Shusha and continued at ADA University in Baku, bringing together over 40 international experts and think tank representatives from 23 countries.

The idea for this high-level platform was initiated at previous year’s international conference “New Vision for the South Caucasus: Post-Conflict Development and Cooperation”, where President Ilham Aliyev welcomed the proposal to organize future discussions in Karabakh. 

Panel discussions in Shusha focused on “The Path to Revival” and “Cooperation, Opportunities and Challenges”, covering the reconstruction process and regional peacebuilding efforts. The dialogue continued in Baku with deeper insights into the post-conflict transformation of the South Caucasus.

President Ilham Aliyev: 

“First of all, I would like to express gratitude to ADA University for hosting this event. It’s already a tradition. We met last April and discussed a broad range of issues related to the post-conflict situation. Of course, having these traditional meetings is very important for us, I think for the international community to understand better our plans, our intentions and to look at what has been done. I am glad that ADA University took this very important initiative. As you know, this is one of the leading universities in Azerbaijan with an already a very high level of education, excellent international contacts and also a university that is growing. Relatively recently, a new international partnership format on education was established.

And also, in the meantime, we’ve been actively advocating for a new era in the Caucasus, an era of peace and cooperation. And finally, we got a positive response from Armenia just recently. Their government accepted five basic principles which Azerbaijan put forward, the principles which should be a foundation for a peace agreement with Armenia. At the same time, also, based on Azerbaijan’s proposal Armenia finally agreed to establish joint working groups with Azerbaijan to start the process of delimitation of our border. I think these are important signs of recent development. Also, it shows that now after a year and a half passed since the second Karabakh war, the Armenian leadership and, I hope population understand the necessity of peace. And if a peace agreement is signed and those basic principles are known, then the peace in the Caucasus will be long-lasting and sustainable. This is what we want, and I think that what we demonstrate and what we announce is a clear example of our will to contribute to the peace in the Caucasus. We are rebuilding Karabakh. We are mobilizing our resources to strengthen our economy because, without that, it will not be straightforward to allocate substantial funds. At the same time, we advocate for peace agenda in the Caucasus, and I think on all the tracks, the initiative is in our hands. This initiative serves and should serve the cause of peace. So, probably, I would conclude my introductory remarks here and maybe leave more time for our discussions. Once again, thank you for being with us, and I am sure that this traditional format of gathering will continue, maybe as one of the ideas I heard from Hafiz Pashayev is that there will be some proposals from the participants. I want to add to that by saying that maybe there could also be some time of interaction between the Shusha international fora which will take place regularly. Maybe we can think about some other forms of meetings and conferences in between maybe in other cities, in Aghdam, Zangilan, in other cities which have been liberated. So, to make, I think, our interaction more efficient, because, for us, importance is that the international community knows what has happened, knows the full truth about the years of occupation and knows about our plans and intentions to build peace. For that reason, I think there should be a permanent line of contact between participants and those members of the expert society who didn’t manage to be with us today. So, that’s my proposal for maybe the next round of the working program, but of course, all the proposals you will represent will be very carefully addressed. So, once again, thank you, and I wish you a pleasant stay in Azerbaijan.”

Full transcription of the Forum is available here.