MILITARY AND PEACEFUL VARIATIONS BY THE PRESIDENT ALIYEV ON THE KARABAKH SETTLEMENT
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
February 9, 2015 Monday
Saturday, 7 February has become an extraordinary working weekend on the
agenda of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. First the three co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,
and then the OSCE leadership in the face of the OSCE Chairman Ivica
Dacic and the OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, made statements
calling Azerbaijan and Armenia to abandon the escalation of violence.
"We all agree that the military situation along the frontline and on
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is deteriorating, posing a threat to
regional stability and endangers the lives of civilians. The Monitoring
Report of the Personal Representative of the Chairman Andrei Kasprzyk
for the first month of 2015 indicated 12 victims and 18 wounded. This
is the highest confirmation of the death tolls since the 1994 on the
ceasefire agreement. After 2014, when approximately 60 people died,
we are concerned that the alarming trend of violence continues,
" reads the joint statement.
Just on the same day, sometime later, President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev announced that the condition to promote the peace process is
de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories captured by Armenia. Speaking
on 7 February at the panel session "Besides Ukraine - unresolved
conflicts in Europe" in the frames of the 51th Munich Security
Conference Aliyev made it clear that the Armenian soldiers must leave
Adam, Fizuli, and generally seven districts of Azerbaijan.
However, the threat of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan against
Azerbaijan last month leaves no illusions about some calmness on
the line of contact. "Azerbaijan will pay dearly for the life of the
Armenian soldiers who died as a result of sabotage, Sargsyan said at
the board of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia on 26 January.
Over the last statistical year, mentioned by the OSCE, a lot of
mediation efforts have been made to bring peace to the parties at the
level of the presidents of France, Russia, the US secretary of state,
as well as calls for prudence EU, CoE, OSCE. The mediation of Russian
President in August 2014 which usually calmed the presidents of the
warring presidents, even for a small period of time, did not lead
cause the cessation of military escalation.
It is noteworthy that Aliyev, unlike to verbal statements about the
first years of the use of force as a political tool to address the
issue during the third term, is increasingly confirming his words by
concrete military actions - from large-scale military exercises to
individual local military skirmishes. These practical steps become
consistent under the increasingly economic isolation of Armenia
due to the deep economic crisis of suzerain in the face of Russia,
Ukrainian crisis, the growing opposition between the West and Russia,
and as a result, the isolation of the latter.
However, it should be noted that all these foreign conflicts to the
north of Azerbaijan, are temporary by nature, and cannot serve as a
platform for long-term military pressure on Armenia. From Aliyev's
speech in Munich it becomes clear that he understands it. His second
promise: peace and cooperation in exchange for de-occupation becomes
relevant under a long-term Armenian crisis, mitigation of which
largely depends on constructive regional relations.
Azerbaijan has also entered a period of prolonged economic downturn
caused by the problems of institutional and unnecessarily protracted
labor diversification. Yet, even reduced oil and gas revenues, allow
holding the position, which may dictate the military and civilian
variations of the Karabakh settlement.
Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijan
February 9, 2015 Monday
Saturday, 7 February has become an extraordinary working weekend on the
agenda of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. First the three co-chairs
of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,
and then the OSCE leadership in the face of the OSCE Chairman Ivica
Dacic and the OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, made statements
calling Azerbaijan and Armenia to abandon the escalation of violence.
"We all agree that the military situation along the frontline and on
the Armenian-Azerbaijani border is deteriorating, posing a threat to
regional stability and endangers the lives of civilians. The Monitoring
Report of the Personal Representative of the Chairman Andrei Kasprzyk
for the first month of 2015 indicated 12 victims and 18 wounded. This
is the highest confirmation of the death tolls since the 1994 on the
ceasefire agreement. After 2014, when approximately 60 people died,
we are concerned that the alarming trend of violence continues,
" reads the joint statement.
Just on the same day, sometime later, President of Azerbaijan Ilham
Aliyev announced that the condition to promote the peace process is
de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories captured by Armenia. Speaking
on 7 February at the panel session "Besides Ukraine - unresolved
conflicts in Europe" in the frames of the 51th Munich Security
Conference Aliyev made it clear that the Armenian soldiers must leave
Adam, Fizuli, and generally seven districts of Azerbaijan.
However, the threat of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan against
Azerbaijan last month leaves no illusions about some calmness on
the line of contact. "Azerbaijan will pay dearly for the life of the
Armenian soldiers who died as a result of sabotage, Sargsyan said at
the board of the Ministry of Defense of Armenia on 26 January.
Over the last statistical year, mentioned by the OSCE, a lot of
mediation efforts have been made to bring peace to the parties at the
level of the presidents of France, Russia, the US secretary of state,
as well as calls for prudence EU, CoE, OSCE. The mediation of Russian
President in August 2014 which usually calmed the presidents of the
warring presidents, even for a small period of time, did not lead
cause the cessation of military escalation.
It is noteworthy that Aliyev, unlike to verbal statements about the
first years of the use of force as a political tool to address the
issue during the third term, is increasingly confirming his words by
concrete military actions - from large-scale military exercises to
individual local military skirmishes. These practical steps become
consistent under the increasingly economic isolation of Armenia
due to the deep economic crisis of suzerain in the face of Russia,
Ukrainian crisis, the growing opposition between the West and Russia,
and as a result, the isolation of the latter.
However, it should be noted that all these foreign conflicts to the
north of Azerbaijan, are temporary by nature, and cannot serve as a
platform for long-term military pressure on Armenia. From Aliyev's
speech in Munich it becomes clear that he understands it. His second
promise: peace and cooperation in exchange for de-occupation becomes
relevant under a long-term Armenian crisis, mitigation of which
largely depends on constructive regional relations.
Azerbaijan has also entered a period of prolonged economic downturn
caused by the problems of institutional and unnecessarily protracted
labor diversification. Yet, even reduced oil and gas revenues, allow
holding the position, which may dictate the military and civilian
variations of the Karabakh settlement.