Azerbaijani president’s statement blackmails USA, Armenian expert says

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has claimed Azerbaijan is being pressed into recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence.

He is blackmailing the United States, which has repeatedly stated that territorial solutions cannot be independent of the referendum results in Nagorno-Karabakh, political scientist Styopa Safaryan told Tert.am in response to a question as to which great power the Azerbaijani leader meant while saying that he is being pressed behind closed doors into recognizing Nagorno-Karabakh’s independence.

“Since James Warlick’s extensive interview has been misinterpreted because of words out of context and John Kerry’s rather interesting remarks have gone unnoticed, I can say that the United States insists on a comprehensive settlement of the problem, which implies a final status for Nagorno-Karabakh, a package settlement. And since Azerbaijan has always shown a selective attitude to the Helsinki Final Act and to the three principles for a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – accepting the territorial integrity principle alone – it has repeatedly received messages by means of James Warlick and John Kerry that it is not going to be so,” Mr Safaryan said.

According to a statement by official Washington on Oct. 4, “a just settlement must be based on international law, which includes the Helsinki Final Act, the principle of non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity, and self-determination.”

At the daily press briefing in Washington on October 3, Yusif Babanlı, a reporter for the AzerTag state-run news agency, put the following question to Ms Elizabeth Trudeau, Director, Press Office, US Department of State:

“So last week, Secretary Kerry was speaking at the Atlantic and Aspen Institute, and he was discussing various conflicts including Syria, issues with Iran. And he touched upon the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He said something to the effect of that the prospects for conflict resolutions are not there because the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan are not ready yet. Can you clarify what he might have meant, or more importantly, what would warrant such a statement?”

In response, Ms Elizabeth Trudeau said:

“Well, I won’t parse the Secretary’s words. I think they’re pretty clear. What I would reiterate, though, is that the U.S. supports a negotiated settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. We continue to engage actively with the sides. You know we’re co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. Our longstanding policy shared by the Minsk Group co-chairs is that a just settlement must be based on international law, which includes the Helsinki Final Act, the principle of non-use of force or the threat of force, territorial integrity, and self-determination.”

“The responsibility for peace rests on the leaders of both countries, and we would reiterate their importance in finding a negotiated peace,” she added.

In this context, President Ilham Aliyev, who is openly accused of lacking the political will in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, has to openly state his political attitude.

“It is blackmail against the United States to force it into changing its attitude,” Mr Safaryan said.

However, he does not think the US will change its position.

Moreover, the US position is in conflict with not only Azerbaijan’s wishes, but also Russia’s. This is the reason for the US Secretary of State’s hint that maintaining the status quo is the only alternative to a comprehensive settlement.