By Trend
After the meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the harsh rhetoric and statements voiced by the Armenian side on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were put to an end at the CIS summit in Dushanbe city, Bahruz Guliyev, editor-in-chief of the Azerbaijani newspaper “Ses”, political expert, told Trend.
He noted that the claims of the Armenian side about changing the format of the negotiation process, that is, about participation in these negotiations of the illegal regime established in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, were removed from the agenda of the settlement.
“This once again confirmed that Armenia is a party to the conflict, and further negotiations will be conducted with this country,” said Guliyev. “Only in this way a procedure for normal negotiations can be established and it is possible to achieve results.”
Touching upon another important outcome of the meeting, he said that the decision made to create additional operational communication mechanisms to curb incidents on the contact line of troops and at the borders will play a role in resolving the conflict.
“Undoubtedly, this agreement is an indicator of diplomatic policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev, and the next decisions to be made between the parties may contribute to the peaceful settlement of the conflict,” Guliyev said. “That’s because it is obvious that the Armenian side is already willing to return to the previous format of the negotiations.”
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries 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 districts.
The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.