President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev noted that “the status of autonomous republic is the maximum concession in the issue of Karabakh, what Azerbaijan is ready to go for today. And it harmonizes with the proposals that the mediators of the Minsk Group pose”. During the meeting with journalists James Warlick, Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group welcomed Ilham Aliev’s statement “Not that it is the last say but for that he makes it a matter of discussion”. Aravot.am talked about this with political scientist Sergay Minasyan “First of all Warlick is a diplomat, therefore the whole meaning and nature of his statements are that they are kind of covert statements, in which some sense may be found that is understandable to political or diplomatic figures, but it is not always comprehensible to the general public. And these statements enable all sides to interpret bilaterally. What Warlick said does not mean he welcomes Ilhalm Aliev’s statement that they may give a status of an autonomous oblast or republic. But there was the sense in his statement that it is a good fact that the Azerbaijani side starts a discussion on some kind of circumstance”.
The political scientists noted that it is not realistic and has nothing to do either with the situation or with the negotiation document. “Warlick said from the point of view that it is good they speak about it, at least they start some kind of discussion about the status inside Azerbaijan”. Sergey Minasyan emphasized that now it is about the extension of Kasprchik’s mission, which means that the sides can not make any progress in this sense. “It gives an opportunity to make the first step or sub step in terms of excluding further escalation. First it should be, then in a new long-term perspective we will be able to speak about coming out to a realistic negotiation procedure, because without trust mechanisms, without creating those trust mechanisms in communication lines, there can not be a prerequisite for coming out to any political agreements”.
Ami CHICHAKYAN
