How Aliev sent an SOS concerning the Karabakh issue by calling for the help of Kiselyov
The regional visit of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group ended last week. Though American Co-Chair James Warlick announced in Baku that President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliev was ready to meet with his Armenian colleague Serzh Sargsyan and that he “is loyal to the peaceful resolution of the NK conflict”, yet, it is not clear when a meeting in the format of presidents will be organized. At this moment it is only clear that the Co-Chairs are planning to meet Ministers of Foreign Affairs in the framework of the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers to be held in December in Hamburg. In the statements made based on the results of the regional visit the mediators emphasized that respecting the cease-fire is the cornerstone of the ongoing negotiations, and stressed the significance of the full implementation of the decisions made in Vienna and Saint Petersburg.
“Each of the presidents expressed his opinion how to further the resolution process. The presidents also reconfirmed their agreement on the extension of the Personal Representative of the acting OSCE Chairman-in-office,” noted the Co-Chairs, adding that “the discussion of the operational details still continue”. Thus, the recent regional visit of the Co-Chairs is distinguished by the fact that it seems the requirement for the application of investigative mechanisms is not as acute as before. Here it is noteworthy whether the position of official Yerevan on that issue has mitigated or not. If the attitude of Baku was clear from the beginning, Azerbaijan openly opposed that proposal considering it a technical proposal of the “Armenian side”, then for the Armenian side the application of those mechanisms is indeed very important. Presenting this issue with light emphases during the last visit of the Co-Chairs, perhaps verifies the fact that if it continues like this the caprices of Aliev will be satisfied in terms of refuting the application of the investigative mechanisms. The regional visit of the Co-Chairs was also important in the sense that it proceeded with some harsh and noteworthy assessments by the authorities of Turkey and Russia, as well as with the extensive interview of the President of Azerbaijan given to Dmitry Kiseyov. For the sake of justice it should be noted that the OSCE Minsk Group works in quite difficult conditions. After April 4-day war official Yerevan has hardened its position, and Baku on the level of Aliev confessed that Azerbaijan is under pressure in order to recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh. For that reason Aliev in the interview given to Kiselyov spoke about the opportunity to grant Karabakh “autonomy”, presenting it as the only concession from Azerbaijan.
It is not surprising that the “lifebuoy” of Aliev is the well-known representative of the Russian propaganda machine and that Aliev sent a SOS concerning the Karabakh issue with the help of Kiselyov. It is more noteworthy that Aliev did not forget to slightly hint in such difficult for him conditions that he might think of the membership of the EEU with the passing phrase “nothing should be excluded”. Thus, his “logic” completely conform to the following limits, “Russia, help us not to recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh, and we will seriously discuss the question of EEU membership…”. In this context, Warlick’s statement in Yerevan in response to Aliev’s statements was noteworthy, when the American Co-Chair first urged not to separate anything from the context, noting that all the components together make up systematic resolution. Then coming to Aliev’s statement on granting NK a status of autonomous republic, he welcomed it by considering it “a base for launching a discussion on Karabakh status”.
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“President Aliev has opened a discussion on the status of Karabakh, we all should welcome it. We should have a sincere discussion on the status of Karabakh. The positions of the sides may not match but it is important to put these questions on a public discussion by the population of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Nagorno Karabakh. Thus, I said in Baku and I repeat it here, that we welcome the statement made by President Aliev not because it is the last word but because he puts this question on discussion. And all the questions that are part of the resolution should be put on discussion not only privately but for the general public.”
Actually, the situation is that both Azerbaijan and Turkey have certain expectations from Moscow in the Karabakh issue at this phase. We deal not only with the statements of the Turkish and Azerbaijani authorities, that can be considered as propaganda, but also hint-responses from the Russian side verifying it. It is verified both by the speech of Turkey’s Foreign Minister at the PACE, when Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu noted that ,”Russia has made quite reasonable proposals that is the removal of the Armenians from the five occupied districts of Azerbaijan. This option is being discussed now”, and by the interpretation of the official representative of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, Maria Zakharova in response to Aliev’s statement on giving Nagorno Karabakh a status of autonomous republic. Zakharova directly noted;
“In that statement it is important that “the sides come to an agreement”. In other words, official Moscow thinks that the authorities of Armenia my negotiate with Aliev on granting Karabakh autonomy within Azerbaijan when Aliev himself states that today Azerbaijan is under pressure to recognize the independence of Nagorno Karabakh…
EMMA GABRIELYAN
