A group of Armenian civil society representatives visited Azerbaijan on November 21-22,  2025 as part of the Peace Bridge Initiative. 

A similar roundtable discussion took place in Yerevan last month.

Initiative members from Armenia are Areg Kochinyan, Boris Navasardyan, Naira Sultanyan, Narek Minasyan, and Samvel Meliksetyan met with their Azerbaijani counterparts Farhad Mammadov, Rusif Huseynov, Kamala Mammadova, Ramil Iskandarli, and Fuad Abdullaev.

Areg Kochinyan is the president of Yerevan’s Research Center on Security Policy (RCSP) NGO that organized the event. Boris Navasardian is the honorary president of the Yerevan Press Club. Naira Sultanyan is the director of the Democracy Development Foundation. Narek Minasyan and Samvel Meliksetyan are members of the RCSP.

Dilara Afandiyeva participated in the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh that began in the Lachin Corridor in December 2022. Farhad Mammadov is affiliated with the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan. Rusif Huseynov is the director of the Topchubashov Center, a Baku-based think tank. Kamala Mammadova is the chief editor of 1News Az, an online publication publishing in Azerbaijani and Russian. Ramil Iskandarli is a lawyer who chairs the Azerbaijan National NGO Forum. Fuad Abdullaev is a leading advisor at Baku’s Center of the Analysis of International Relations.

The participants, according to a RCSP press release, engaged in constructive discussions on the current dynamics of the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the role of civil society in fostering constructive engagement, and potential joint projects aimed at advancing mutual understanding.  

The release says the parties agreed to enhance cooperation in the media space, deepen direct contacts between expert groups, and further increase civil society involvement in the peacebuilding process. Plans were made to continue working-level engagement and organize future meetings in both Armenia and Azerbaijan under the framework of the Peace Bridge Initiative.

As part of the process, the members of the Peace Bridge Initiative met with Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and Head of the Department of Foreign Policy Affairs of the Presidential Administration. The discussion focused on steps taken by both Armenia and Azerbaijan following the August 2025 Washington D.C. talks to advance the peace agenda.