NKR IN REVIEW: TALKS OF MILITARY INTERVENTION RAISE CONCERNS

“A public opinion poll was recently conducted in Azerbaijan and it showed that 29 percent of the country’s population was in favor of a military solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem,” Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandyan said recently. “This is the result of a militarist rhetoric constantly voiced in Azerbaijan. I don’t think that there is another country in the world that would flaunt a tenfold rise in its military spending and every third person would want a war.” The attention of the international community to the Karabakh problem of late has acquired some new accent, which is hardly conditioned by the presence of objective prerequisites for resolving the conflict. The efforts of international structures are largely directed at preventing resumed hostilities between Azerbaijan and Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh. These fears, however, are grounded, as the general situation in the ceasefire zone has noticeably escalated. Two residents of the borderline Armenian village of Chinari died on June 18 as a result of targeted fire from Azeri armed forces. In the recent period the Azeri side has periodically violated the ceasefire regime both in the Karabakh conflict zone and on the borders of Armenia. On June 20, according to an agreement earlier reached with the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, a mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conducted a scheduled monitoring of the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan in the Martakert direction, to the east of the populated area of Seysulan. However, the Azerbaijani side did not take the OSCE mission to its front positions as a result of which the monitoring groups had to make observations from a remoter position. OSCE Office Coordinator Colonel Imre Palatinus invited the attention of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s personal representative, ambassador Andrzej Kasprczik to this circumstance. The cochairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group were expected to pay a visit to the region on June 25-28. They were to visit Baku and Yerevan. However, it was not known whether the diplomats from Russia, France and the United States would visit Nagorno-Karabakh. On the threshold of the visit, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry laid out Baku’s basic position on the conflict settlement: •The conflict must be resolved within the framework of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and this approach has no alternative; •The goal of the conflict settlement is not only the return of seven regions situated around Nagorno-Karabakh. The main purpose is a complete restoration of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity and preservation of Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan providing it with a corresponding status. The return of seven regions surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh does not ensure the ultimate settlement of the conflict; •Self-determination can be realized only within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity. The application of this principle in international law is foreseen only in the form of internal self-determination. International law by no means foresees or gives grounds for a secession of a part of a state’s territory without this state’s consent; •The return of the expelled Azerbaijani population to native hearths in Nagorno-Karabakh and ensuring their living and safety equally with the population of Armenian ethnicity is needed to determine the status of Nagorno-Karabakh. Only after that can there be talk about determining the status; •The road lying through Lachin should be provided in equal and mutual use of both sides. This is a guarantee of a normal, safe and sustainable functioning of this transport corridor. •For the purpose of developing Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan is ready to take all measures for the benefit of both communities that will live in this region. The main obstacle for switching to this stage is the occupation of Azerbaijan’s territory by Armenia. •The principles of the return of Azerbaijanis to Nagorno-Karabakh, providing the road through Lachin for the use of both sides and the determination of the status of the region within the framework of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity should be introduced in the draft Basic Principles of Conflict Settlement. Only in this case will the discussions have a result; •Nagorno-Karabakh must remain an inseparable part of Azerbaijan. This will lead to a settlement of the conflict and restoration of normal relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. If Armenia chooses another way, it will not get anything but hostility and isolation in that case. And Armenian Minister Nalbandyan voiced Yerevan’s position on the conflict settlement: •Nagorno-Karabakh cannot be in submission to Azerbaijan; •Nagorno-Karabakh must have a land border with Armenia administered by Yerevan; •The security of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population must be guaranteed. According to Nalbandyan, Azerbaijan’s militarist propaganda and threats made at the highest level contradict the UN Charter and the OSCE founding document – the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. Any attempt to solve the issue militarily can entail unpredictable consequences not only for the parties to the conflict but for the whole region, the diplomat stressed. The minister expressed concern over the violations of the ceasefire regime by the Azeri side that became more frequent in the recent period. “The incident that occurred in Martakert in early March, the refusal of the Azerbaijani side to return four citizens of Armenia taken prisoner in April, killing an Armenian soldier and two civilians in Tavush region – all these endanger the negotiating process.” Experts say this week’s visit of the OSCE Minsk Group cochairmen to the region is aimed at moderating the radical tone of rhetoric that might provoke undesirable consequences rather than conditioned by the presence of any grounds for a conflict settlement any time soon.
Aris Ghazinyan

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