BAKU IS AFRAID OF BECOMING BELGRADE
by Arkady Dubnov

DEFENSE and SECURITY
June 16, 2008 Monday
Russia

On what Aliev and Sarkisyan agreed in St. Petersburg

PRESIDENTS OF AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA TRY TO BRING THE NAGORNO-KARABAKH
REGULATION OUT OF A DEAD END; The recent meeting of the presidents of
Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh Sarkisyan in the framework of an informal
CIS summit in St. Petersburg remained in the periphery for Russian
and Western observers. Meanwhile, according to its importance, it is
outstanding among similar meetings of leaders of the two conflicting
countries.

The recent meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Serzh
Sarkisyan in the framework of an informal CIS summit in St. Petersburg
remained in the periphery for Russian and Western observers. Meanwhile,
according to its importance, it is outstanding among similar meetings
of leaders of the two conflicting countries.

American co-chair of the Minsk group, Mathew Braiza, stated,
"the meeting passed in a constructive and positive atmosphere. The
presidents decided to continue the negotiation process on the basis
of the proposals submitted by the co-chairs in Madrid."

The Armenian party also considers results of the negotiations in
St. Petersburg important. Meeting of the foreign ministers of Armenia
and Azerbaijan, Edvard Nalbandyan and Elmar Mamedyarov, took place
immediately after the negotiations of Aliev and Sarkisyan. After that
they reported at a press conference that another visit of the co-chairs
of the Minsk group to the region might take place at the end of June,
"taking into account the schedules of the presidents and the foreign
ministers."

Due to an already established tradition, the parties do not disclose
the details of the Armenian-Azerbaijani negotiations. However,
neither of them denied the reports, saying that at the current
stage the countries discuss the proposals of the intermediaries
from OSCE connected with the procedure of a referendum of residents
of Nagorno-Karabakh about its future status. Another topic is the
possible liberation of the territories adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh
and occupied by Armenia. It is possible to get a certain notion about
the proposals from the statement of Braiza. According to Azerbaijani
news agency Day.az, the Americans announced that "as soon as the
territories are returned to Azerbaijan, they will be demilitarized,
international peacekeeping forces will be stationed there and the
armed forces of Armenia will leave."

Along with this, Braiza emphasized that there would be no agreement
should it be unacceptable for Armenia: "I agree that there will be a
certain risk for the Armenian President if he agreed with the return
of the territories to Azerbaijan. There is also a political risk
in Azerbaijan if Armenia is given what it wants in exchange for an
agreement to return the territories." Braiza pointed the attention
of the Armenian party to some attractive aspects like creation of a
corridor between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia and the procedure of
determining the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijani political scientist Vugar Seilov presumes that a proposal
to insert international peacekeepers to the conflict zone may become a
trap for Baku. According to Seilov, from such a step "Western countries
started removing Kosovo from Serbia gradually and unnoticeably for
the Serbs." So far, there was no official reaction from Baku and
Yerevan to the statement of Braiza.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress