Why doesn’t official Yerevan point out Azerbaijan’s encroachments on the sovereign territory of Armenia, the presence of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan, and declare that Armenia will participate in this platform if Azerbaijan withdraws its units from the sovereign territory of Armenia, releases all Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijani prisons?
A tripartite meeting of the Ministers of Defense of Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Zakir Hasanov, Yaşar Güler, and Juansher Burchuladze took place in Baku the other day.
The last meeting in this format was in February of this year in Kars. At that time, the Georgian side reported, “The attention was paid to the importance of joint military exercises, which will bring the militaries of the three countries even closer and strengthen the relations between them.”
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Before the trilateral meeting, bilateral talks were held between the defense ministers of Azerbaijan and Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, and Georgia and Turkey. At the trilateral meeting, the defense ministers of Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan discussed the fields of regional security, defense cooperation, and plans and the prospects of military collaboration between the three countries; an agreement was reached to hold military exercises on cyber security with the participation of the three countries in 2024.
At the trilateral meeting, they mentioned the importance of coordinating efforts in the “struggle against the factors” threatening the region’s security and signed a protocol resulting from the tripartite meeting.
Turkish Defense Minister Yaşar Güler called on Armenia to use the regional “3+3” platform to regulate relations with Azerbaijan. “We believe that the “3+3″ platform is a good format for the peaceful settlement of problems,” Güler emphasized at the meeting with his Georgian and Azerbaijani counterparts. He also noted that Ankara and Tbilisi supported settling relations between Baku and Yerevan. “We are working for stability in the Caucasus. Azerbaijan liberated its lands from occupation. The region’s countries can solve their problems independently,” said Güler, addressing Juansher Burchuladze and Zakir Hasanov, and those words were echoed by Azerbaijani media,
Güler emphasized that cooperation between Ankara, Baku, and Tbilisi is strategically important for the region, and the parties are willing to develop trilateral relations. He added that Turkey will continue to stand in solidarity with Azerbaijan and Georgia for peace and stability in the region.
By the way, the Minister of Defense of Turkey, accusing Armenia of slowing down the peace process, moved on to the topic of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and emphasized that Turkey will continue to support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and noted that they are not going to recognize Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia as Russian. The Turkish minister considered the territories mentioned above occupied and described the actions carried out by Russia as a violation of international law.
On the one hand, the Turkish official considers it essential that the countries of the region “solve” the problems on their own, but on the other hand, he continues to talk about the “3+3” platform, the launch of which is one of the essential goals of Moscow.
Let’s remember that “3+3” is a regional cooperation format initiated by the presidents of Turkey and Azerbaijan and supported by Russia after the 44-day Karabakh war. It implies the participation of the three South Caucasian countries – Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan – and the region’s three powers – Russia, Turkey, and Iran. On December 10, 2021, the first meeting of the consultative regional platform at the level of deputy foreign ministers of five countries took place in Moscow. Official Tbilisi announced at the time that it refused to participate in the gatherings, clarifying that Georgia cannot be in the same format as Russia until Russia withdraws its troops from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. However, Turkish and Azerbaijani figures continue to consistently “advertise” this platform, as if ignoring that Georgia has given a comprehensive answer regarding participation in that platform.
Two weeks ago, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili was asked in an interview on the first channel of Georgia what formats Tbilisi can present for the settlement of relations. Here, the Foreign Minister of Georgia reaffirmed the position of Tbilisi: Georgia did not participate, does not participate, and will not participate in the discussions in the “3+3” format. In this same interview, the Georgian official also commented on the supply of French armored vehicles through the territory of Georgia to Armenia, stating: “Georgia allows both countries to use the transit function of our country under equal conditions. I want to emphasize that this is an equally competitive field. Any country has the right to have a defense force, and when it comes to conventional equipment or weapons authorized by international treaties, any country has the right to acquire it. Georgia’s position is that both countries should be allowed to use the transit function that our country has under equal conditions.”
The last meeting of the “3+3” regional platform was held at the end of October in Tehran and was attended by the heads of the foreign political departments of Armenia, Iran, Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan. They discussed the most critical issues in the region, emphasized the importance of the “3+3” platform, and stressed: “for promoting long-term peace and economic development, should be strengthened bilateral and multilateral consultations and cooperation.”
In addition, the foreign ministers, taking into account the importance of developing relations between countries based on mutual interests and neighborliness, emphasized peaceful settlement of disputes, respect for sovereignty, political independence, territorial integrity, inviolability of internationally recognized borders, non-interference in internal affairs, prohibition of the threat or use of force and the importance of respecting human rights based on all the principles of the United Nations Charter. It was mentioned after the meeting in Tehran that the next meeting in this format would be held in Turkey, but the dates still needed to be said.
Turkey wants the ongoing discussions between Azerbaijan and Armenia to lead to a peace agreement, Ömer Çelik, the press secretary of the ruling Justice and Development Party in Turkey, said the other day, adding that “If Armenia refuses destructive steps, the 3+3 cooperation format will make a great contribution.” in establishing peace in the region.”
In the conditions of Tbilisi’s refusal, the Turkish-Azerbaijani tandem continues to advance the “3+3” platform. For Moscow, this is a format of “vital” significance. With its participation, official Yerevan has not clarified to our public what Armenia essentially gains on this platform. The political position of the official Tbilisi is relatively straightforward and understandable. Still, it is surprising why the official Yerevan, for example, does not point out the encroachments by Azerbaijan on the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia, the presence of Armenian prisoners in Azerbaijan, and declare that the Republic of Armenia will participate in this platform if Azerbaijan withdraws its units from the sovereign territory of RA, release all Armenian prisoners from Azerbaijani prisons.
Emma GABRIELYAN
“Aravot” daily newspaper, 1.12. 2023
The publication was produced within the project “Competing Narratives” implemented by Media Initiatives Center and n-ost.
