Ties and contacts between Armenian and Azerbaijani societies are necessary, but Armenian and Azeri intellectuals' visits to Stepanakert and Baku had a formal character, Head of Hay Dat office Kiro Manoyan told a press conference in Yerevan, answering a PanARMENIAN.Net correspondent's question. "It would be better if such visits were more open. The recent visit was bore a formal character. Intellectuals should have met with Armenian, NKR and Azeri people, instead of concealing the fact of their arrival in Stepanakert," he noted. Azerbaijani society, he said, should realize that the 70 years are left behind, and it's time to start a dialogue with Karabakh.

Last week, Armenian and Azeri Ambassadors to Russia Armen Sambatyan and Bulbulogli visited NKR, Armenia and Azerbaijan together with intellectuals.