MEDIATORS FORCING BAKU TO AGREE TO KARABAKH PEACE PLAN – AZERI PUNDIT

Yeni Musavat
Nov 15 2008
Azerbaijan

A leading Azerbaijani political analyst has said attempts are under
way to force Baku to accept an unfavourable Nagornyy Karabakh
conflict settlement plan. Vafa Quluzada said Baku has rejected
the plan which sought a special status for Azerbaijani districts
of Lacin and Kalbacar, as well as a self-determination referendum
in Nagornyy Karabakh. The following is the text of Orxan Qaracayli
report by opposition Azerbaijani newspaper Yeni Musavat on 15 November
headlined "The emerged ‘Madrid agreement’ is not fake" and subheaded
"Vafa Quluzada: ‘It has emerged in order to make our ears and eyes
accustomed to the points contained there"; subheadings have been
inserted editorially:

It has become known that the Azerbaijani-Armenian talks on resolving
the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict are being conducted within the framework
of the "Madrid agreements". Armenia’s Aravot newspaper has obtained
the text of "Madrid principles" from an internet blog in English. The
text of the document that appeared in the foreign media was published
in full in the previous edition of Yeni Musavat.

The document was put forward by the OSCE Minsk Group. Although it
does not contain specific points on settlement of the conflict, it
gives grounds for genuine fear over Nagornyy Karabakh. For example,
it contains a recommendation to the Armenian government to vacate
districts adjacent to Nagornyy Karabakh, with special provisions for
Kalbacar and Lacin districts [of Azerbaijan that are located between
Armenia and Nagornyy Karabakh]. It also said that the final status
of Nagornyy Karabakh is to be decided in a referendum.

The document did not state clearly whether the Karabakh conflict
is to be resolved within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial
integrity or self-determination of Nagornyy Karabakh.

Government statements "absurd"

In no way can it be considered a coincidence that the "Madrid
agreement" emerged following the Moscow declaration [signed by the
Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents on 2 November]. It appears that
Armenians were interested in having this document come to light
because of differences in points of the Moscow declaration and the
"Madrid principles". In any case, it was an Armenian newspaper that
searched for and found the document called "Madrid principles"
from English-language websites. It is also possible that this
English-language blog is being controlled by the Armenian lobby.

An interesting aspect of the issue is that both Azerbaijani and
Armenian officials have given absurd statements after the document
emerged. Armenian Foreign Minister Edvard Nalbandyan said that
Azerbaijan and Armenia have not signed documents on the resolution of
the [Nagornyy Karabakh] conflict. It follows from his remarks that
the "Madrid principles" were not a draft of a final resolution. The
Azerbaijani government claims that the document published by newspapers
is not "Madrid principles". The government is saying that the document
has been distorted, faked by somebody and then passed on to the press.

However, a number of experts say that the document is not a fake. In
their view, the document is being described as false in order not
to violate the principle of keeping the negotiations secret. On the
other hand, if it is admitted that this is the original document,
the room for manoeuvre for the government will shrink.

Attempts to impose "Madrid principles" on Azerbaijan

Political analyst Vafa Quluzada said that he does not believe the
claims that the published "Madrid principles" are fake.

"I think this is the original document. The reason why it has emerged
is to make our eyes and ears accustomed to these developments. This
is the objective. However, it must be admitted that the Azerbaijani
leadership did not accept these principles. Therefore, all efforts
by [OSCE Minsk Group] co-chairs are directed at making Azerbaijan
accept the principles in question. That is, Azerbaijan needs to let
the Armenians in Karabakh to conduct a referendum and make a decision
through voting. This means that Azerbaijan will voluntarily legitimize
the independence of Nagornyy Karabakh or let it remain a part of
Armenia. And this is not all. The issue of Lacin and Kalbacar is
being differentiated, special provisions are in place for them. That
is, these two districts either remain under the control of Russian
or Armenian troops, or they are returned to Azerbaijan on certain
conditions. In this case, Lacin and Kalbacar nominally belong to
Azerbaijan, but are controlled by Armenians. The reasoning for this
is that allegedly if Azerbaijan receives back Lacin and Kalbacar,
it will be able to attack Armenians from there. This is complete
nonsense because it was Armenia that attacked Azerbaijan and seized
its territories. There has never been a fact of Azerbaijan attacking
Armenia. The real objective of the ‘Madrid principles’ is to declare
Nagornyy Karabakh independent and make it de-facto part of Armenia."

Vafa Quluzada said it would be wrong to describe the "Madrid
principles" as a document. "This is not a document, but a draft
by three co-chairs. It would have been a document if the sides
had accepted it. These are so far recommendations and some of the
recommendations have already been implemented. For example, the
point on restoring visits between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been
realized. Azerbaijani intellectuals have gone to Armenia and Armenian
citizens have visited Baku. This was an attempt to implement the
‘Madrid principles’."