Azerbaijan handed over five Armenian soldiers to Yerevan, citing "principles of humanism," a state authority announced on Wednesday.
The extradition of the Armenian detainees was carried out through Hungary's mediation, said Azerbaijan's State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons.
The statement underlined that the extradited soldiers were detained on Nov. 16 while attempting a provocation in the Kalbajar border region.
Azerbaijan has extradited 21 Armenian soldiers in the past two months.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991, when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, a territory internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
When new clashes erupted on Sept. 27, 2020, the Armenian Army launched attacks on civilians and Azerbaijani forces, and violated several humanitarian cease-fire agreements. During the 44-day conflict, Azerbaijan liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the nearly three-decade occupation. Before the victory, about 20% of Azerbaijan's territory had been under illegal occupation for nearly 30 years.
Turkey was a key backer of Azerbaijan during last year's 44-day Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
On Nov. 10 last year, the two countries signed a Russian-brokered agreement to end the fighting and work toward a comprehensive resolution. On Jan. 11, the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a pact to develop economic ties and infrastructure to benefit the entire region. It included the establishment of a trilateral working group on Nagorno-Karabakh.
Regional cooperation
Recently, there is an ongoing normalization period in the South Caucasus region in parallel with efforts to boost cooperation among regional actors.
Turkey and Armenia will engage in their first talks in Moscow, Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu told reporters at an annual evaluation meeting in the capital Ankara earlier this week.
Following years of frozen ties, the neighboring countries of Turkey and Armenia have announced they seek to normalize relations amid efforts for regional integration and cooperation in the South Caucasus. Earlier this month, the two countries appointed special envoys to normalize relations.
The borders between the two countries have been closed for decades and diplomatic relations have been on hold. Armenia and Turkey signed a landmark peace accord in 2009 to restore ties and open their shared border after decades, but the deal was never ratified and ties have remained tense.
Relations between Armenia and Turkey have historically been complicated. During the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict last year, Ankara supported Baku and accused Yerevan of occupying Azerbaijan’s territories.
Turkey said charter flights with Armenia would begin soon, and it is pursuing its normalization discussions in consultation and coordination with Azerbaijan.
While Azerbaijan said that it "fully supports" the normalization of relations between neighboring Turkey and Armenia, Russia also announced its backing to the "fragile process."
Ankara has also made frequent calls for a six-nation platform comprising of Turkey, Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia for permanent peace, stability and cooperation in the region, saying it would be a win-win initiative for all regional actors in the Caucasus.
Russia this month hosted the inaugural meeting of the regional platform. The next 3+3 South Caucasus Platform meeting is scheduled to be held in Turkey.