Interview with Eldar Namazov, political scientist.
Q: Which results can be expected from the meeting of Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents in Astrakhan on October 27?
A: As is known, presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia held several meetings mediated by the Russian president in the past two years. However, they all were ineffective. Anyway, after each of these meetings, official Yerevan did not support the Madrid principles presented by international mediators. In the result, the negotiation process on the Karabakh settlement is know in the air. In addition, it should be taken into account that at the latest meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, organized by the Russian president in Saint Petersburg, the Russian side demonstrated an attempt to drag Armenia out of the difficult state it was in. In addition, the Russian-proposed principles at the Petersburg meeting did not coincide with the Madrid principles. However, the Armenian side, making use of the Petersburg proposals, declared that Yerevan agrees with the new initiatives of Moscow, while Baku does not support them.
As for the Astrakhan meeting, it mostly comes from the concern, created in Moscow and Armenia over the situation around the negotiation process. As is known, Astana will host the OSCE Summit in December of this year and this organization has already announced that in the process of this event it will present a road map related to the resolution of the Karabakh conflict to the parties. Moscow and Yerevan are much concerned over this initiative, demonstrated by OSCE. Therefore, one of the main goals of the meeting of presidents in Astrakhan is the prevention or neutralization of OSCE initiatives.
Q: How can the Road map on Karabakh conflict settlement differ from the ones earlier proposed by international mediators?
A: The idea of preparing the roadmap appeared not at random, since there are significant differences between the basic principles, offered by international mediators and the roadmap. The technology of basic principles is built on coordination of all paragraphs with the conflict parties. Therefore, when official Yerevan rejects to accept one principle, the whole document is considered uncoordinated. In this case the mediators cannot attain any progress. However, the roadmap provides an opportunity to start the peace process, take first steps in this direction even in the existence of uncoordinated paragraphs. In this connection, I think the appearance of the idea of preparation of the road map is natural, since the Prague process, continuing for already several years, has, in fact, failed and it became impossible to move forth on the basis of previous principles. It is necessary to reject the principle “either everything or nothing is agreed” to move in the peace process.
Q: Which positive results can be expected from the OSCE mission earlier this month as compared to the previous mission of this organization in 2005?
A: The previous mission was short-term, in addition it did not cover all regions. Therefore, it became impossible to prepare any document, reflecting the realities. Meanwhile, the current mission visited all the occupied regions. In addition, the UN commissariat on refugees have been involved into the current mission. Therefore, it is possible to suggest that now the OSCE can prepare a comprehensive report.
Q: Will the report of the assessment mission affect the negotiations around Karabakh?
A: Naturally, the situation in the occupied lands can attract the world attention to the resolution of this problem. Thus, this may actualize the soonest liberation of the occupied lands.
Q: What is the reason of the stiff mutual accusations of the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia of violating ceasefire on the line of the Armenian-Azerbaijani confrontation?
A: These two factors show that the negotiations have failed. If diplomatic negotiations are in the air, then naturally, this will increase provocations on the contact line and stiffen mutual accusations.
Q: In order to find the way out of the situation, Azerbaijani side is trying to transfer the resolution to the UN agenda. Can this way be positive for the problem settlement?
A: I do not agree that Azerbaijan rejects the mediation mission of the OSCE Minsk Group and is trying to transfer the problem to UN. Azerbaijani diplomacy is mostly trying to put a diplomatic pressure on OSCE through intensification of UN in the Karabakh issue, since the mandate for OSCE to hold the mediation mission on the Karabakh conflict was presented by UN. OSCE makes annual reports before the UN General Assembly. In this connection, it becomes natural if UN, as the organization, presenting a mandate on the conflict settlement to OSCE, will interfere with the process over the absence of progress in the conflict settlement.
Lala B.
News.Az
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
