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Azerbaijan-Armenia: No Meeting Of Minds

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  • Azerbaijan-Armenia: No Meeting Of Minds

    AZERBAIJAN-ARMENIA: NO MEETING OF MINDS

    Institute for War and Peace Reporting UK
    IWPR Caucasus Reporting #712
    Dec 2 2013

    Presidents take a step forward by meeting face to face, but fundamental
    positions on Karabakh look as immovable as ever.

    By Sevda Samedova, Yekaterina Poghosyan - Caucasus

    While the first meeting in two years between the presidents of Armenia
    and Azerbaijan is an important step in itself, subsequent statements
    by officials have underlined how little substantive progress was made.

    Azerbaijani leader Ilham Aliyev and Armenia's Serzh Sargsyan discussed
    the Nagorny Karabakh conflict at a meeting in Vienna on November 19.

    The talks process on Karabakh is being mediated by the Organisation
    for Security and Cooperation, via the Minsk Group chaired by France,
    Russia and the United States. There has been little movement towards
    a settlement since the conflict ended in a truce in 1994.

    The Armenian-run administration in Karabakh says it will never give
    up its claim to independence, while Azerbaijan insists that in any
    solution. It must regain control over its sovereign territory.

    Sargsyan and Aliyev last met in January 2012. Then, too, they failed
    to agree on a way to move the stalled negotiations process forward.

    Azerbaijani foreign ministry spokesman Elman Abdullayev gave a cautious
    welcome to the latest meeting, while stressing that no concessions
    were being made.

    "The meeting of the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan which took
    place in the Austrian capital is definitely seen as a positive step,"
    he told IWPR. "The question of the territorial integrity of our
    country has never been a subject for discussion, and never will be.

    The main aim of the talks is the restoration of the territorial
    integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan."

    Azerbaijan remains committed to a peaceful resolution of the dispute,
    Abdullayev added.

    Novruz Mammadov, deputy head of Aliyev's administration, said the
    reason why little was being said about the meeting was that "there
    have been two years in which the heads of state have not met, and
    the talks process has stagnated".

    "Of course, this stagnation is connected with Armenia's stance,"
    he told IWPR. "But as time has passed, the Armenian government has
    realised that this position will bring them no benefit, and hence
    another meeting between the presidents has taken place."

    Mammadov said the fact the meeting took place was a positive thing
    in itself, and Armenia's response afterwards was an improvement on
    previous occasions.

    "Armenia always behaves well at such meetings, so as to show its
    best side to the OSCE [Minsk Group] co-chairs. After the meeting,
    it always starts making provocative, even accusatory statements,"
    he said. "So far, however, we have not seen any of these traditional
    Armenian statements. All the same, it is hard for us to fully believe
    the Armenians."

    Armenian president Sargsyan expressed cautious optimism about the
    meeting, which he saw as a new stage in the talks process.

    "I saw in the president of Azerbaijan a desire to solve the problem,
    but that isn't enough," he said in televised comments. "We have the
    same desire. I personally want this problem to be resolved in as
    short a timescale as possible. However, the issue is the terms on
    which the Azerbaijani president wants to solve the problem, and the
    terms on which I wish to do so."

    Sargsyan said the two countries' foreign ministers would meet in
    early December.

    "The co-chairs will visit the region in December and hopefully the
    agreement I made with the president of Azerbaijan about a meeting
    soon will become a reality as a result," he said.

    Analysts in both countries agreed that it would require some kind
    of pressure from outside to force the presidents to make the kind of
    concessions needed to get peace talks moving.

    Zardusht Alizade, a political analyst and head of the Baku School of
    Journalism, said that Aliyev was happy to keep the conflict in its
    present "frozen" state.

    "The perpetuation of the conflict gives him something to trade with
    politically, and a guarantee of partnership from Russia., Baku will
    therefore reject any initiatives for peace," he told IWPR. "The
    current situation benefits only Armenia. It believes that in holding
    Karabakh, it has already succeeded in its main aim. All that remains
    is to legalise its occupation. Armenia is thus waiting patiently for
    Azerbaijan to give up its position."

    The Karabakh Armenians' claim to statehood has not been recognised
    by any member of the United Nations, including Armenia. Their
    administration has consistently pressed to be included in the talks
    process. Azerbaijan has refused to countenance this, saying it will
    only deal with Yerevan.

    Karabakh's foreign ministry welcomed the Sargsyan-Aliyev meeting but
    reiterated that it too needed a place at the table.

    "The resumption of meetings at the highest level between Armenia
    and Azerbaijan is of great importance for activating the process of
    peaceful conflict settlement and for maintaining peace and stability
    in the region," a statement from the foreign ministry said. "It must
    be pointed out that real progress in this process can only by achieve
    by accepting the existing realities, and by [holding] meetings in
    which Karabakh participates, directly and unmediated."

    Sevda Samadova is a freelance reporter in Azerbaijan. Yekaterina
    Poghosyan is a journalist with Mediamax in Armenia.

    http://iwpr.net/report-news/azerbaijan-armenia-no-meeting-minds


    From: Baghdasarian
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