Provocations hurt talks over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

/By Azernews/

By Gunay Camal

A soldier of Azerbaijani Armed Forces, Vusal Aliyev became the latest victim of Armenian provocation on the contact-line of the troops.  

Aliyev was shot dead by a sniper shot from the Armenian side on July 5 despite the truce reached earlier between the sides to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict…

The South Caucasus is home to one of the bloodiest conflicts in the world – Nagorno-Karabakh, which is exacerbating with every passing year. 

Over the past 20 years of unsuccessful peace talks between the aggressor country Armenia and its suffering neighbor country Azerbaijan was casting a shadow over the security of the region. Once again, the conflict emerged as the real and big danger to the security and development of the region in April 2016 – mainly because of the inactivity of the mediators and international community.

Now, the diplomatic talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh are proceeding apace, as the world realized that unless talks mediated by the OSCE MG bring tangible results, a further escalation of the conflict cannot be ruled out.

For the past two months the two sides have engaged in intensive talks, while two presidential summits were held, where President Ilham Aliyev and President Serzh Sargsyan voiced a will to continue peace talks.  

Baku hopes and believes that such an intensive continuation of negotiations will lead to some progress, while emphasizing that the conflict must be solved gradually step by step. 

Meanwhile, Yerevan is not happy with the intensification of talks, as it realizes that the status quo will be elaborated, which means liberation of the internationally recognized lands of Azerbaijan. Thus the country continues to stage provocation on the contact-line, shooting Azerbaijani positions and killing soldiers.

Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, commenting on the provocation, said that it once again proves that the negotiations must be further intensified.

Emphasizing that some forces in Armenia are not pleased with the intensive talks, he noted that they are trying to cause provocation on the contact-line or borders. “As you know, prior to that a similar incident had also happened. One of our soldiers had been shot down by a sniper. It indicates that some forces don’t want the negotiations to be ended with results. To stop this kind of incidents we must intensify the talks,” he said.

While the battlefield has been fairly quiet since early April, diplomacy has remained in high gear following the escalation, as it brought the long-lasting conflict back to international attention.  The OSCE MG chairs have become active mediators in monthly talks between the two presidents, while Moscow has become the most active mediator between Baku and Yerevan.

“When Lavrov was in Baku, he mentioned that we are following the right direction in order to achieve progress soon,” Mammadyarov continued.” The troops of Armenia must be withdrawn. This is unambiguous term. Otherwise, such unpleasant incidents can occur frequently. And this is unacceptable.”

Azerbaijan does not seek to hold meaningless talks, President Ilham Aliyev said earlier, adding that it is time for concrete step to be taken toward resolving the conflict as soon as possible.

"If someone thinks that we will continue to hold meaningless talks for next 20 years, they are mistaken…Meaningful talks must start immediately and unconditionally. If that happens, a peaceful settlement can be hastened," he said before the St.Ptersburg meeting on Nagorno-Karabakh.