By Rashid Shirinov
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and the status quo that Armenia tries to preserve in Azerbaijan’s occupied lands create big problems to international cooperation in the region.
The presence of unresolved conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan also poses challenges for the regional neighbors.
“The Nagorno-Karabakh impedes the strengthening of the geopolitical axis Moscow-Baku. But Russia is a peacemaker in this conflict, and we strongly want to avoid renewal of hostilities,” ideologist Aleksandr Dugin said at the sidelines of Moscow-Baku conference in Moscow, adding that Russia is not satisfied with the status quo.
Baku has repeatedly expressed its consent to come to the negotiating table with Yerevan to resolve the conflict by peaceful means, but Armenia continues to play for time and avoids substantive negotiations. The reluctance of Armenia is the main reason why the OSCE Minsk Group, aimed at resolving the conflict by peaceful means, cannot make any tangible progress.
Yerevan does its utmost not to let the conflict settlement process move forward, as Armenian leadership knows that it will eventually have to withdraw from Azerbaijan’s occupied lands.
Dugin noted that Armenia controls Nagorno-Karabakh, but Russia, as well as the world community, recognizes Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
“This problem has no military solution. But we came to a point when we need to move forward,” he added.
Answering the question about the way to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Dugin said that Armenia should return five occupied regions to Azerbaijan: “I repeat, we need to move forward.”
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.
Armenia still controls fifth part of Azerbaijan's territory and rejects implementing four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.