Experts welcome the desire of the United States to intensify the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict

Baku/09.06.21/Turan: Washington intends to participate in finding a solution to the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Acting Assistant Secretary of State Philip Reeker, during a visit to Azerbaijan on June 8.

The United States calls for an early and objective start of negotiations under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group. Reeker also announced the readiness of the United States to assist in border demarcation. On May 14, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also announced Russia's readiness to assist in the demarcation between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Some experts believe that the process between Azerbaijan and Armenia is impossible due to Russia's monopoly in the settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict.

Is this opinion correct? As a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, what can the United States offer in general regarding the conflict settlement?

In his speech at the conference "A New Look at the South Caucasus: Post-Conflict Development and Cooperation" held on April 13 at the ADA University, President Ilham Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan expects the OSCE Minsk Group to present its proposals on further regulation of peaceful life in the region. “Speaking about a peace treaty with Armenia, if Armenia considered this option, there could be many spheres of activity for international actors - demarcation, delimitation, interaction. I hope that representatives of the Minsk Group will soon come to Azerbaijan with a number of proposals, and we will carefully study these proposals,” Aliyev said.

Asim Mollazade, a member of the Milli Majlis Committee on International Relations and Interparliamentary Relations, told Turan he did not believe that the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia could be someone's monopoly.

“As a result of the trilateral agreement, Russian peacekeepers are in the region. But this became possible with the consent of Azerbaijan and Armenia,” he said. A committee member sees positive developments in the United States proposal.

“Currently, a GPS geolocation system is used to determine borders. This is the American system. With modern United States technology, precise border points can be determined from maps.  The talk is about old Soviet maps, and if the United States can help in this direction, so be it,” Mollazade said. He believes that Azerbaijan's position is unambiguous.

“If someone can contribute to the peace process, we are very normal about these issues. If someone wants to help the demining process, and do something for the quick return of hundreds of thousands of refugees to their native land, we do not refuse this help,” said the MP.

Mollazade believes that the conflict has ended in principle.

"For a long time, the resolutions of the UN Security Council were not implemented, there were mediators of the OSCE Minsk Group, for 30 years there was some kind of ineffective political tourism. And today Azerbaijan has liberated its lands," he said.

The MP noted that France has lost the right to act as a mediator, as a representative of the OSCE Minsk Group. “By the statements of the representatives of the parliament and the executive power, France has acted on the side of Armenia, therefore it cannot carry out its mediation,” Mollazade said.

Political analyst Azer Gasimli told Radio Azadlig that parliamentary elections will soon take place in Armenia, and Russia wants Nikol Pashinyan to be removed from power so that Kocharian return. "In this case, this region will completely come under the control of Russia," he said.

However, according to the expert, after the 44-day Karabakh war, the Armenian society and its political elite have already chosen a strategy of rejection from Russia and moving to the West.

"This is so, even if they themselves deny it. Russia feels it, and all the processes that are now going on revolve around these elections," he said.

Gasimli believes that at this time, both the United States and France, and in the future, other states of the European Union can join the process in order to be active in the Azerbaijani-Armenian relations or the processes taking place in the region, and somehow support Armenia.

According to the political scientist, the US support will not be similar to the support of France. “They will try to provide such support so that Armenia defends itself not from Azerbaijan, but from Russia. In any case, their goal is not to lose Azerbaijan in this process,” the political scientist said.

Gasimli noted that after the 44-day Karabakh war, Russia in some sense dominated the region. “There is a military base on the territory of Armenia, and on the territory of Azerbaijan there is already a military contingent called peacekeeping forces.  This creates conditions for putting pressure on Azerbaijan. The Minsk Group is currently not functioning. The United States, however, is one of the co-chairs of this group and wants to change the current status quo by re-joining the processes”, he said.—0—