Turan Information Agency, Azerbaijani Opposition Press
November 26, 2018 Monday
The OSCE Minsk Group to put Nagorno Karabakh as a side to negotiations – version of Saakyan's visits
Contact.az
In response to the trip of the head of the separatist regime in Nagorno-Karabakh, Bako Sahakyan to the United States, France and Russia, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry handed a note to Washington and Paris, and sent an official protest to Moscow. He flew to Moscow on November 24th. What did Saakyan talk about in three capitals? Neither Yerevan nor Khankendi reports, it remains to be assumed, based on recent events in the region. For Baku, Saakyan"s meetings in Moscow are especially important, since it is believed that the keys to the Karabakh settlement are in the hands of V.Putin.
RIA "Novosti" puts forward a version of Saakyan"s fear against internal enemies intending to overthrow him before the end of the "presidential term". Saakyan said that in 2020 he will not run for the post of head of the regime. "… since the presidential and national assembly elections will take place, I, as the current president, will take all the necessary measures within my mandate so that both presidential and parliamentary elections are free, fair and transparent," said Bako Sahakyan. It was made against the background of the protests that took place in Khankendi since the beginning of June. The participants of the protest action demanded to punish all the perpetrators of the fight with the participation of employees of the Karabakh national security service, as well as to dismiss the head of the police and the National Security Service. The political radicalist Sefilyan, also threatened to come to Nagorno Karabakh (NK) and evict Bako.
Bako Sahakyan, who has been ruling the Armenian community of Karabakh for 11 years, got the right to run for a new term in 2020, when the local "presidential elections" are held, according to the new "constitution".
The news agency Regnum interviewed Saakian, in which he did not explain the purpose of the trip to Moscow, but claimed about the danger of resuming the war with Azerbaijan, which had accumulated a lot of weapons. "An important factor is the position of the international community, especially the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing countries, which have a consolidated approach and constantly declare the unacceptability of any kind of military solution to the Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict. Taking into account the strength of the military potential accumulated on both sides, launching a war in such a strategically important region as the South Caucasus, is indeed fraught with unpredictable consequences," Saakyan said to the chief editor of Regnum M. Kolerov.
Therefore, Saakyan could ask Moscow for a double service: to protect against internal enemies and prevent a war with Azerbaijan.
Political scientist Elkhan Shainoglu is surprised that Sahakyan visited three countries that are co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group. If the co-chairmen need this to clarify the position of the NK in the negotiation process, then the co-chairs in Yerevan and Khankendi are sufficient for this clarification. Shainoglu warns that behind these trips lie more dangerous threats for Azerbaijan. "By inviting the separatist to Moscow, Washington and Paris, the co-chairmen are trying to put Saakian against Baku in order for Azerbaijan to recognize the separatist as a party to the conflict. Three countries are trying to implement the plan that Yerevan has been promoting for years.
"We need to find a way out of the current situation. In fact, the Center for Strategic Studies under the Presidential Administration should deal with this, prepare various scenarios and proposals. But what they have been doing lately, no one but them knows. If they cannot perform such tasks, let, at least they will invite specialists from the outside. But the doors of the Center for third-party experts are closed," Shainoglu writes.
Political analyst Rasim Musabekov linked Sahakyan"s trip to Moscow with the intention of knocking out more money from the Russian-Armenian diaspora during the next All-Armenian Marathon. This year, the Armenians donated to Yerevan, a record lower amount of funds for projects in Nagorno-Karabakh – 11 million 109 thousand dollars.
"According to information spread by Armenian media, the "head" of the separatist regime created in the occupied territories of the Azerbaijan Republic arrived in the Russian Federation," the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said on Saturday evening.
The entry permit for a representative of the illegal separatist regime to the territory of the Russian Federation undermines efforts to advance the negotiation process and contradicts Russia's mediation obligations as co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.
This step of the Russian side does not correspond to the high level of current relations between Azerbaijan and Russia and contradicts the legal framework of bilateral relations, in particular the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Security between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Azerbaijan, the press service of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan said in a statement.
According to this document, "the parties undertake not to support the separatist movements, and also prohibit and suppress the activities of individuals against the state sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of the other Party." "This kind of voyage by the "head" of the illegal regime in the OSCE MG co-chair countries can lead to an unpredictable development of the situation around the conflict. In this case, the entire responsibility will be on the Armenian side, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry"s press service said.