It’s not that Elmar Mammadyarov was displaying a lot of flexibility on this issue. In his public speeches, in any case, he spoke about “occupation,” “refugees,” and “the four UN resolutions” and he was not prepared to discuss the people of Artsakh’s right to self-determination or the need to uphold and strengthen the ceasefire agreement. I am under the impression that it is not necessary to be a diplomatic expert in order to repeat these mantras. The new foreign minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, does not seem to shine as being someone creative who will come up with new ideas. Therefore, as I understood from Aliyev’s latest speech, he is dissatisfied with the fact that Mammadyarov tended to discuss issues with the Armenian side via the Minsk Group co-chairs. Does this mean that diplomatic meetings will end? I don’t think so. The Minsk Group is an internationally-recognized negotiation resolution and regardless of whether Azerbaijan likes it or not, it has to somehow fit in with the resolution. There is no hope that worthwhile negotiations will take place any time in the foreseeable future about the Artsakh conflict, but there will be meetings for upholding the ceasefire. That is where our diplomats will have a huge task on their hands. Of course, we need to remember whom we are working with; Azerbaijan can violate any written or verbal agreement at any time. But that is also an issue that diplomats should worry about; they need to show who did it, when, and how the ceasefire agreement was violated.
Read the entire editorial in Armenian: https://www.aravot.am/2020/07/17/1124058/?fbclid=IwAR3PYiOk7jvgEyevkfeGEvUDLyv4Swmxy-1nIc2iAImPyc6x8iUdwxY_qbs
Aram Abrahamyan
