AZERBAIJANI COMMENTATORS PESSIMISTIC ON KARABAKH PROGRESS
news.az
Jan 21 2010
Azerbaijan
Zardusht Alizade Political scientist Zardusht Alizade does not expect
any result from the latest visit to the region of the OSCE’s mediators
on the Karabakh conflict.
The co-chairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe’s Minsk Group are holding meetings in Baku on Thursday.
Like their previous visits, this trip will make no breakthrough on a
peace settlement, Alizade told 1news.az. "This is what the co-chairs
are paid for."
In an apparent reference to Russia and the USA, Alizade said,
"This long-drawn-out affair will last until the superpowers openly
financing the aggressor country and ordering the victim country not
to act in self-defence settle this issue amongst themselves."
Political scientist Fikret Sadikhov told 1news.az that the visit is
taking place at an important time. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov recently visited Yerevan, while Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were in Moscow.
"What’s obvious from all this is Russia’s intention to drag Yerevan
out of the crisis. I mean both the difficult economic state and the
political isolation of the country," Sadikhov said.
Russia understands that it would be difficult to do it without
Azerbaijan, Sadikhov said. The countries chairing the Minsk Group,
France, Russia and the USA, also understand this.
He said that serious pressure on Armenia is needed to make progress
on a solution to the Karabakh conflict.
"The more pressure is exerted on Armenia, the quicker the issue
will be settled. I mean substantiated pressure based on the norms
and principles of international law. We do not need alien lands, we
need to liberate our seven districts and in this case we are ready to
grant a high status of autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijan,"
Sadikhov said.
"It is clear that the leading countries would like to settle this
problem as soon as possible but I think the conflict will not be
settled in the near future without active pressure on the Armenian
side," he said.
Turkish-Armenian rapprochement
Zardusht Alizade said that the superpowers wanted to keep the Karabakh
settlement process separate from Armenian-Turkish rapprochement.
"Everything will depend on the position of Baku and Ankara and their
ability to avert this process," Alizade said.
He said that Armenia had not wanted to sign the protocols on the
normalization of relations with Turkey: "Armenia did not want to sign
the protocols with Turkey and did so only under pressure."
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan ordered the Constitutional Court to
pass the decision on the protocols’ conformity with the constitution,
which Turkey this week criticized for containing "preconditions and
restrictive provisions which impair the letter and spirit of the
Protocols", Alizade said.
He thought, however, that "this is not the end of Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation and it will continue".
The United States, France and Russia will put pressure on Turkey,
rather than Armenia, Alizade said. "I even think that instead of
punishing Armenia they will start pressure on Turkey. They use Armenia
as a strong destabilizing factor in the region directing it against
either Turkey or Azerbaijan and Georgia. I do not rule that they may
use Armenia even against Iran."