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HOLLANDE TO HOST KARABAKH TALKS AS RUSSIA PLAYS 'DIVIDE AND RULE'
Oman Tribune, Sultanate of Oman
Oct 27 2014
TBILISI French President Francois Hollande hosts leaders from Armenia
and Azerbaijan on Monday as Europe makes a fresh push to end the
festering conflict over Nagorny Karabakh.
Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited both
countries last week after a sharp escalation in violence over the
disputed region in recent months as war raged in Ukraine.
Although few expect a breakthrough after more than two decades of
bloodshed, it is "important to bring the two presidents together,
to call on them to work together, to get back to the table to reduce
tensions," a French diplomatic source said ahead of the summit.
Despite years of internationally mediated negotiations since a 1994
ceasefire, the two sides have not yet signed a final peace deal on
Karabakh, still internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
Oil-rich Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state
budget, has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations
do not yield results.
Armenia - heavily armed by Russia - says it could crush any offensive.
"What happened in Ukraine has had a direct impact" on the conflict,
a source in Hollande's entourage said, adding that Russia's annexation
of Crimea "exacerbated the climate".
Azerbaijani analysts say an increasingly assertive Russia is pursuing
a divide-and-rule policy and has an interest in keeping the Karabakh
conflict in a frozen state to retain its influence over its Soviet-era
vassal Caucasian states.
"Moscow holds the keys to the conflict's solution, but is intentionally
not using its levers as it has an interest in keeping the status quo,
in maintaining its influence over Azerbaijan and, especially, Armenia,"
Shahin Abbasov, an independent Azerbaijani analyst, said.
Abbasov said that by hosting talks in Paris, Hollande "aims at
depriving (Russian President Vladimir) Putin of his role as an
exclusive arbiter" in the conflict.
A French diplomat admitted that Hollande will face an uphill battle
in his efforts to facilitate the Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue.
Hollande will hold separate meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Armenia's Serzh Sarkisian. (AFP)
http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=177408&heading=Europe
Oman Tribune, Sultanate of Oman
Oct 27 2014
TBILISI French President Francois Hollande hosts leaders from Armenia
and Azerbaijan on Monday as Europe makes a fresh push to end the
festering conflict over Nagorny Karabakh.
Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited both
countries last week after a sharp escalation in violence over the
disputed region in recent months as war raged in Ukraine.
Although few expect a breakthrough after more than two decades of
bloodshed, it is "important to bring the two presidents together,
to call on them to work together, to get back to the table to reduce
tensions," a French diplomatic source said ahead of the summit.
Despite years of internationally mediated negotiations since a 1994
ceasefire, the two sides have not yet signed a final peace deal on
Karabakh, still internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan.
Oil-rich Baku, whose military spending exceeds Armenia's entire state
budget, has threatened to take back the region by force if negotiations
do not yield results.
Armenia - heavily armed by Russia - says it could crush any offensive.
"What happened in Ukraine has had a direct impact" on the conflict,
a source in Hollande's entourage said, adding that Russia's annexation
of Crimea "exacerbated the climate".
Azerbaijani analysts say an increasingly assertive Russia is pursuing
a divide-and-rule policy and has an interest in keeping the Karabakh
conflict in a frozen state to retain its influence over its Soviet-era
vassal Caucasian states.
"Moscow holds the keys to the conflict's solution, but is intentionally
not using its levers as it has an interest in keeping the status quo,
in maintaining its influence over Azerbaijan and, especially, Armenia,"
Shahin Abbasov, an independent Azerbaijani analyst, said.
Abbasov said that by hosting talks in Paris, Hollande "aims at
depriving (Russian President Vladimir) Putin of his role as an
exclusive arbiter" in the conflict.
A French diplomat admitted that Hollande will face an uphill battle
in his efforts to facilitate the Armenian-Azerbaijani dialogue.
Hollande will hold separate meetings with Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev and Armenia's Serzh Sarkisian. (AFP)
http://www.omantribune.com/index.php?page=news&id=177408&heading=Europe