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War Threats Loom Over 'Peace' Talks

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  • War Threats Loom Over 'Peace' Talks

    WAR THREATS LOOM OVER 'PEACE' TALKS
    By Ara Khachatourian

    Asbarez
    Nov 23rd, 2009

    Azeri President Ilham Aliyev

    The OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmen issued a statement Sunday after the
    meeting between Armenian and Azeri presidents on the Nagorno-Karabakh
    conflict. The representatives of France, Russia and the US expressed
    optimism on the progress of the peace talks, but failed to condemn
    Azerbaijan and its president, Ilham Aliyev, for inciting violence
    by threatening military action against Armenia and Karabakh one day
    before sitting down with his Armenian counterpart.

    "That meeting must play a decisive role in the process of
    negotiations," Aliyev said late on Friday, in comments broadcast
    by state television on Saturday and in reference to the meeting
    in Germany.

    "If that meeting ends without result, then our hopes in negotiations
    will be exhausted and then we are left with no other option," he said,
    saying Azerbaijan had the right to use force to take back the mountain
    region. "Azerbaijan is spending billions on buying new weapons,
    hardware, strengthening its position on the line of contact," he said.

    "We are doing that because we never excluded and we do not exclude
    that option. We have the full right to liberate our land by military
    means," he added.

    The above statements should have been enough to raise red flags for all
    parties involved. If the Minsk Group mediators truly were committed to
    the peace process they should have not only canceled the meeting, but
    issued a terse warning to Azerbaijan, which has used military rhetoric.

    On the other hand, in the absence of a Minsk-Group-initiated
    cancellation, Armenia should have pulled out from the meeting in
    protest of Aliyev's remarks, sending a clear signal that it does not
    negotiate with parties that threaten the national security of Armenia
    and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

    However, there was an interesting and bold announcement from President
    Serzh Sarkisian's spokesperson Samvel Farmanyan, who on Monday told
    reporters that an official recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh
    Republic by Armenia was not being ruled out in the event that
    Azerbaijan continues its military rhetoric.

    The series of events call into question the optimism expressed by
    the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmen, as well as the validity of the
    peace process. One wonders if the parties involved have adopted
    another-still elusive-definition of the word "peace" given that the
    atmosphere in which the Munich talks were held were tainted from the
    onset and before any matter of relevance could be placed on the agenda.

    Was Farmanyan's statement another knee-jerk reaction from Yerevan,
    or one that may actually have legs?

    Azeri foreign minister, Araz Azimov, on Monday told the press and his
    Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, that the talks were encouraging.

    All sides are now looking at the OSCE summit in Athens to continue
    the process, or the progress, depending on which angle this is
    being viewed.

    The Armenian side has not commented about the talks, but Farmanyan's
    remarks indicate that Armenia did not see any progress in the talks
    after Sunday's Munich meeting.

    In fact, the diplomatic back-and-forth prior to the meeting
    demonstrated that neither party is on the same page. On one hand,
    Azeris said that the focus was on the timetable by which Armenia
    allegedly would "return lands" to Azerbaijan. On the other hand,
    Armenia called into question whether they and the Azeris were taking
    part in the same peace talks, because the focus, in Armenia's opinion,
    was determining the status of Karabakh.

    This, coupled with continued assurances by Turkey that Turkey-Armenia
    relations are dependent on the outcome of the Karabakh peace process,
    as well as announcements by Karabakh authorities that they have never
    been presented with the so-called "Madrid Principles," at best paints
    a dubious picture of the ongoing peace process.

    In this climate, Armenia must act resolutely and put in motion the
    processes that are outlined by Farmanyan in his statement, and before
    another round of talks between the "sides" insist on Karabakh's
    complete participation in the peace process. At the same time, the
    Armenian Foreign Ministry should also engage in diplomatic talks with
    Minsk Group co-chairing countries urging them to condemn Azerbaijan
    for its continued military rhetoric and non-peaceful disposition that
    it has demonstrated and advocated from the onset of the talks.

    Furthermore, until such a condemnation by the Minsk Group co-chairs,
    Armenia should refrain from taking part in peace talks.
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