According to a number of experts, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan has become more complicated also because the balance between the two countries has been broken over these years. While Azerbaijan has made impressive economic progress, Armenia has seen better and faster development of civil society institutions. This double imbalance has reduced the possibility of an effective dialogue. However, throughout the years of the conflict, in addition to formal negotiations, attempts have been made to achieve a dialogue at the “Track 2” level. To what extent have the contacts between the representatives of the expert community remained relevant, especially after November 2020 and September 2023, and what additional agenda can expert and academic circles of the two countries propose to promote peace?

Arsen Kharatyan, the Aliq Media founder, talked about these and other issues with the editors of the Caucasus Edition magazine – Lala Darchinova, a researcher at the European University, and Philip Gamaghelyan, an assistant professor at the University of San Diego. The programme was produced in the framework of “Contact Line”, the joint initiatives of Yerevan and Baku Press Clubs.