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Karabakh Process: Azerbaijan signals no breakthrough until end of
election period
KARABAKH | 22.05.13 | 10:18
Photo: www.mfa.gov.az
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
International mediators brokering a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict are again expected to arrive in the region today. But this
time their visit is likely to be aimed at maintaining the relevance of
the negotiation process rather than giving it a boost.
During a visit to Moscow on Tuesday Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov made it clear that no breakthrough should be expected in
the Karabakh peace process until after the competition of the
electoral process in Azerbaijan.
Presidential elections in which incumbent head of state Ilham Aliyev
will be seeking a third consecutive term in office will be held in
Azerbaijan in October.
Mammadyarov traveled to Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart
Sergei Lavrov. It happened after Moscow cut off the oil pipeline
Baku-Novorossiysk, saying that Azerbaijan pumped too little oil
through it and the pipe had thus become unprofitable. But experts do
not exclude political reasons for that as Azerbaijan has, in fact,
forced Russia to withdraw its military base from the radar station at
Gabala.
During the meeting the two ministers, of course, said that these two
facts did not speak about the deterioration of relations between the
two countries. As `proof' they cited the fact that Russia `awarded'
the Azerbaijani participant in the recent Eurovision show the highest
score - 12 points. It is interesting that according to the official
results, Azerbaijan gave no points to the Russian participant,
although Mammedyarov assured Moscow that Azerbaijan did give the
Russian singer a high score, but the organizers of the competition had
confused everything and the points eventually got lost somewhere in
that confusion. It is interesting that both Baku and Moscow said they
were going to investigate possible violations in the vote counting at
Eurovision.
But most importantly Lavrov made a remarkable statement on the
Karabakh issue. He, in fact, confirmed the statements of the Armenian
side that in 2009 Azerbaijan changed its approach to the so-called
Madrid principles of settling the Karabakh problem that were adopted
two years before.
`Russia tried to find a compromise between the positions of Armenia,
which insisted that the 2007 version of the principles was acceptable
for it as a basis for negotiations, and of Azerbaijan, which
considered it necessary to work on the basis of the Madrid principles
updated in 2009,' said the Russian foreign minister.
The Madrid principles contain `a moment of synchronicity', but
official Baku demands that first Armenian troops be withdrawn from the
buffer zone, or from `Azerbaijani territories', as Mammadyarov put it
at the latest meeting in Moscow.
Russia, however, does not seem to quite agree with this, even though
Lavrov referred in his statement to `the return of Azerbaijani
territories.'
`The status quo is certainly not acceptable and it is unacceptable for
all. First of all, for Azerbaijan, Armenia, and those who live in
Nagorno-Karabakh - and I am deeply convinced of this. The status quo
means not only an unresolved issue of the return of Azerbaijani
territories, but also the economic blockade of Armenia, so there is no
need to convince anyone of the inadmissibility of that status,' said
Russia's top diplomat.
In fact, Lavrov is putting forward a counter demand to Azerbaijan and
Turkey - to lift the blockades of Armenia after which the issue of
territories could be discussed.
As an RFE/RL correspondent attending the press conference in Moscow
noted, Mammadyarov, contrary to his habit, did not mention a single
time `the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan', but spoke only about
`Azerbaijani territories'. This led some experts to conclude that
Azerbaijan has long abandoned the idea of recovering Karabakh within
the borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region (NKAR)
and even more and that current talks are focused on what part of the
territories outside the former NKAR the Armenian side will agree to
return to Azerbaijan. At present, Yerevan and Stepanakert do not agree
to this demand either.
`Azerbaijan has only one opportunity to satisfy its insatiable desire
for a change in the status quo, bypassing the OSCE Minsk Group format.
To do this, Azerbaijan must recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
and start negotiations with the NKR around the elimination of
consequences of its aggression, including the current status quo,'
Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in a
statement on Tuesday.
election period
KARABAKH | 22.05.13 | 10:18
Photo: www.mfa.gov.az
By NAIRA HAYRUMYAN
ArmeniaNow correspondent
International mediators brokering a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict are again expected to arrive in the region today. But this
time their visit is likely to be aimed at maintaining the relevance of
the negotiation process rather than giving it a boost.
During a visit to Moscow on Tuesday Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar
Mammadyarov made it clear that no breakthrough should be expected in
the Karabakh peace process until after the competition of the
electoral process in Azerbaijan.
Presidential elections in which incumbent head of state Ilham Aliyev
will be seeking a third consecutive term in office will be held in
Azerbaijan in October.
Mammadyarov traveled to Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart
Sergei Lavrov. It happened after Moscow cut off the oil pipeline
Baku-Novorossiysk, saying that Azerbaijan pumped too little oil
through it and the pipe had thus become unprofitable. But experts do
not exclude political reasons for that as Azerbaijan has, in fact,
forced Russia to withdraw its military base from the radar station at
Gabala.
During the meeting the two ministers, of course, said that these two
facts did not speak about the deterioration of relations between the
two countries. As `proof' they cited the fact that Russia `awarded'
the Azerbaijani participant in the recent Eurovision show the highest
score - 12 points. It is interesting that according to the official
results, Azerbaijan gave no points to the Russian participant,
although Mammedyarov assured Moscow that Azerbaijan did give the
Russian singer a high score, but the organizers of the competition had
confused everything and the points eventually got lost somewhere in
that confusion. It is interesting that both Baku and Moscow said they
were going to investigate possible violations in the vote counting at
Eurovision.
But most importantly Lavrov made a remarkable statement on the
Karabakh issue. He, in fact, confirmed the statements of the Armenian
side that in 2009 Azerbaijan changed its approach to the so-called
Madrid principles of settling the Karabakh problem that were adopted
two years before.
`Russia tried to find a compromise between the positions of Armenia,
which insisted that the 2007 version of the principles was acceptable
for it as a basis for negotiations, and of Azerbaijan, which
considered it necessary to work on the basis of the Madrid principles
updated in 2009,' said the Russian foreign minister.
The Madrid principles contain `a moment of synchronicity', but
official Baku demands that first Armenian troops be withdrawn from the
buffer zone, or from `Azerbaijani territories', as Mammadyarov put it
at the latest meeting in Moscow.
Russia, however, does not seem to quite agree with this, even though
Lavrov referred in his statement to `the return of Azerbaijani
territories.'
`The status quo is certainly not acceptable and it is unacceptable for
all. First of all, for Azerbaijan, Armenia, and those who live in
Nagorno-Karabakh - and I am deeply convinced of this. The status quo
means not only an unresolved issue of the return of Azerbaijani
territories, but also the economic blockade of Armenia, so there is no
need to convince anyone of the inadmissibility of that status,' said
Russia's top diplomat.
In fact, Lavrov is putting forward a counter demand to Azerbaijan and
Turkey - to lift the blockades of Armenia after which the issue of
territories could be discussed.
As an RFE/RL correspondent attending the press conference in Moscow
noted, Mammadyarov, contrary to his habit, did not mention a single
time `the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan', but spoke only about
`Azerbaijani territories'. This led some experts to conclude that
Azerbaijan has long abandoned the idea of recovering Karabakh within
the borders of the former Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous region (NKAR)
and even more and that current talks are focused on what part of the
territories outside the former NKAR the Armenian side will agree to
return to Azerbaijan. At present, Yerevan and Stepanakert do not agree
to this demand either.
`Azerbaijan has only one opportunity to satisfy its insatiable desire
for a change in the status quo, bypassing the OSCE Minsk Group format.
To do this, Azerbaijan must recognize the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
and start negotiations with the NKR around the elimination of
consequences of its aggression, including the current status quo,'
Armenia's Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan said in a
statement on Tuesday.