Media Review for January 11

The fight against COVID-19, expectations from today's meeting on Karabakh and a look at the activities of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh are topics of today's media.

The newspaper Azerbaijan writes about the ongoing fight against the coronavirus pandemic. Preparation for the use of the vaccine is nearing completion in Azerbaijan. It looks like mass vaccinations will begin in the coming days. In this regard, TƏBIB has started trainings on the organization of vaccination and side effects. At the same time, after vaccination, it is also necessary to comply with the established rules - wearing masks, hand hygiene, and social distance.

The website Yenisabah.az publishes the opinion of the deputy chairman of the Center for Strategic Studies Caucasus Nizami Jafarsoy on the three-stage plan of Azerbaijan in Karabakh. According to him, the first stage is complete control over the Armenian-Azerbaijani border with a length of about 1,000 km. The second stage is the provision by the Azerbaijani side, along with the Russian peacekeepers, of control over the Lachin corridor. Azerbaijani border guards, customs officers and representatives of the security service should be accommodated here.

At present, a military-political base for this is being prepared. The political scientist believes that the Lachin corridor is not reliably defended by the Russian peacekeepers. For this reason, not only a legal, but also a military-political necessity has arisen for the presence of Azerbaijani structures in the Lachin corridor. It is quite likely that this will be implemented within the next 2-3 months, the political scientist believes.

The Azpolitika.info website says the Moscow Aliyev-Pashinyan-Putin meeting on January 11 should clarify some points, since the 44-day war did not completely resolve the Karabakh issue.

In addition, Armenian militants continue to remain on the territory of Azerbaijan, and Russian peacekeepers are bringing back the Armenians who fled from Karabakh. The deployment of Russian forces in Karabakh and the lack of understanding of the powers of their mandate are also dangerous.

The website Bizimyol.info writes about public expectations from the Aliyev-Pashinyan meeting on January 11. This topic is being discussed more actively in Armenia than in Azerbaijan. Expectations from the meeting in Baku and Yerevan are different.

Azerbaijan is concerned about the arrival of Russian peacekeepers, their actions not coordinated with the Azerbaijani side, the manipulation of geographical maps and the pro-Armenian position of the peacekeepers.

In Armenia, however, new concessions from the Armenian side are expected from the meeting. That is, the withdrawal of Armenian forces from Karabakh, the demarcation of the Nakhchivan corridor and borders, and the return to Azerbaijan of 7 villages of the Gazakh region of Azerbaijan will be formalized.