Expert sees no willingness for concessions in Karabakh settlement
YEREVAN, August 23. /ARKA/. It is not worth talking now about compromises in the negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, because neither Armenia nor Azerbaijan is ready for them, according to Alexander Iskandaryan, the director of Yerevan-based Caucasus Institute.
"When talking about compromises one should talk in the first place about creation of confidence-building measures, which means ending violence on the border and bringing Karabakh back to the negotiating table. Only after that we can talk about concessions the parties are ready to make. It is clear that Azerbaijan is not ready now for it", he told reporters on Tuesday.
According to Iskandaryan, since 2007, when the Madrid Principles (for the settlement of the conflict) were drafted, nothing has changed, and all the new proposals are modification of them.
‘There are no other documents or agreements that Azerbaijan will recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, and that we will not give up a single centimeter of land and in this sense nothing new is happening, " said Iskandaryan.
According to him, the goal after the unprecedented surge of violence along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh in early April was to reduce the level of tension, which was achieved only by pressure on both sides.
"Today it is not serious to think about serious progress in the negotiations. I am pretty skeptical not only about the final settlement of the conflict, but also about a long-lasting ease of tension along the border with Azerbaijan," he said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. ---0---
"When talking about compromises one should talk in the first place about creation of confidence-building measures, which means ending violence on the border and bringing Karabakh back to the negotiating table. Only after that we can talk about concessions the parties are ready to make. It is clear that Azerbaijan is not ready now for it", he told reporters on Tuesday.
According to Iskandaryan, since 2007, when the Madrid Principles (for the settlement of the conflict) were drafted, nothing has changed, and all the new proposals are modification of them.
‘There are no other documents or agreements that Azerbaijan will recognize the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, and that we will not give up a single centimeter of land and in this sense nothing new is happening, " said Iskandaryan.
According to him, the goal after the unprecedented surge of violence along the line of contact in Nagorno-Karabakh in early April was to reduce the level of tension, which was achieved only by pressure on both sides.
"Today it is not serious to think about serious progress in the negotiations. I am pretty skeptical not only about the final settlement of the conflict, but also about a long-lasting ease of tension along the border with Azerbaijan," he said.
The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict erupted into armed clashes after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s as the predominantly Armenian-populated enclave of Azerbaijan sought to secede from Azerbaijan and declared its independence backed by a successful referendum.
On May 12, 1994, the Bishkek cease-fire agreement put an end to the military operations. A truce was brokered by Russia in 1994, although no permanent peace agreement has been signed. Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh and several adjacent regions have been under the control of Armenian forces of Karabakh.
Nagorno-Karabakh is the longest-running post-Soviet era conflict and has continued to simmer despite the relative peace of the past two decades, with snipers causing tens of deaths a year.
On April 2, 2016, Azerbaijan launched military assaults along the entire perimeter of its contact line with Nagorno-Karabakh. Four days later a cease-fire was reached. ---0---