An International Crisis Group representative has predicted a slowdown in the talks process to resolve the Karabakh conflict over the next two years.
Sabina Freizer, director of European programs at the advocacy group, said that elections in Armenia and Azerbaijan and in all three countries mediating a settlement - France, Russia and the USA - made it "unlikely that there will be any improvement in the negotiations”.
She looked back at the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani presidents, mediated by the Russian president, in Kazan in June, which failed to reach agreement on the basic principles for a conflict settlement.
"The international community and the co-chairing countries had high hopes of the Kazan meeting to solve the Karabakh conflict, but its results were disappointing. We hope that the resolution of this problem will be based only on peaceful settlement. Though the talks will slow down in the next two years, we believe that the negotiations on the level of civil society between the two states must be held," Sabine Freizer told journalists in Baku.
She noted that if the elections in Armenian led to a change in government, then a change in the Karabakh negotiating process would be inevitable.
On a more optimistic note, Freizer said: "The good news is that there is no likelihood of war in the next two years."
She said that Azerbaijan's election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council would not only play a role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but enable the country to show its real power in other global issues and at the same time, to strengthen its international reputation.
She said the election would also have an impact on human rights and democracy in the country, as these were issues on the agenda of the Security Council.
On the role of Turkey, Freizer said that it had interesting proposals on resolution of the Karabkah conflict but that it would have to improve relations with Armenia before it could have a mediating role.
"We know that the issues of opening the border between the two countries remain on the agenda. If Turkey wants to play a positive role in resolving the Karabakh conflict, then it must improve relations with Armenia. Otherwise, all its proposals will be just that, proposals."
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