Turkey, Russia's role in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution highlighted

/By AzerNews/

By Sara Rajabova

Recent escalation of tension along the contact line separating Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, along with lack of progress in the peace talks should convince the international community of the need to find a creative solution to the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Aydin Mirzazade, MP and deputy chairman of Azerbaijani parliament's security and defense committee, believes that Turkey, as well as Russia can play a great role in the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“Turkey is one of the largest countries in the region, possessing economic and political clout. Also, it can influence the global processes. Azerbaijan has repeatedly proposed to involve Turkey in the negotiation process of the conflict, but Armenia has always objected to this issue with its anti-Turkish policy,” Mirzazade told AzerNews.

He noted that despite the fact that Turkey is not an OSCE Minsk Group co-chair country, it has always tried to contribute to resolving this problem.

Mirzazade added that Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is one of the main matters of discussion in improving relations between Russia and Turkey.

He said it is encouraging that Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan’s position on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Turkey cut diplomatic ties and closed its border with Armenia after the country invaded Azerbaijan's territories.Turkey has set Armenia's withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions of Azerbaijan as a precondition for establishing diplomatic relations with the country.

“I think that this idea is a proof of international community’s opinion on great influence capabilities of these two countries in the resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” Mirzazade said.

Commenting on the issue, Elman Nasirov, political expert and Director of the Institute of Political Studies of the Academy of Public Administration under the president of Azerbaijannoted that Azerbaijan is interested in Turkey’s mediation in settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which emerged in 1988 over Armenia’s territorial claims against Azerbaijan.

He, however, said OSCE’s attitude towards this issue is different. “There is a special principle of consensus in OSCE. Under this principle, no document comes into force or is accepted, if only one of the OSCE members is against it.”

Nasirov stressed that Armenia each time holds a different position and warns that if Turkey acts as a co-chair and takes active part in conflict resolution, Yerevan will use its veto right. He said therefore, Turkey's active participation on this issue is legally prevented.

He further noted that taking into account the developing temp of relation between Turkey and Russia, they contribute to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

“If the relations between Turkey and Russia continue to develop constantly, they can positively affect the settlement process. Although, Turkey is not an OSCE Minsk Group, however, it could ask its strategic partner Russia to influence Armenia in resolution of the conflict,” Nasirov believes.

He added that such a situation could create favorable conditions for the settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a certain sense.

Sabina Fraser, senior analyst at the Atlantic Council in the United States, recently said Russia and Turkey should start to work together on Karabakh conflict, because they cannot fight each other.

Fraser, an expert on international relations said in her interview with Armenian media that regardless of their opposing positions on the question of Ukraine and Syria, Moscow and Ankara must show confidence and goodwill in working on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict which emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Peace talks, mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. through the OSCE Minsk Group, are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles. However, the negotiations have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on its pullout from the neighboring country's territories.