Artsakh's return to peace talks 'not the only issue' dominating Armenian-Azerbaijani agenda

The Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders have a broad array of topics to consider apart from the return of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) to the peace talks, the director of  the Armenian Center of National and International Studies (ACNIS) said yesterday, commenting upon the reported plans to arrange a new top-level Armenian-Azerbaijani summit.

In an interview with Tert.am, Manvel Sargsyan also questioned the expediency of continuing the process "in the light of Azerbaijan's unwillingness" to see Artsakh at the negotiating table. ''It is important, of course, to go to those negotiations, but likewise it is urgent to stand by the principles which we practically never earlier had,'' he said, stressing also the need of elaborating the aganda "to make all the expectations clear".

Sargsyan further emphasized the urgency of "seeking clarifications" from competent bodies.''Whenever there is a certain principle, it must inevitably cover also the strategy. Hence our task to the authorities now should deal with the explanation of their approach,'' he added.

The analyst noted that Director of the National Security Service Artur Vanetsyan made Armenia's position absolutely clear in Stepanakert during a recent visit - by stating that Armenia ''has no inch of land'' to cede to Azerbaijan.  ''That's also a pinciple – likewise the statement by the minister of defense that Armenia may resort to offensive actions ‘whenever necessary’. So the policy line is, in all likelihood, built upon this kind of principles,'' he said.

Sargsyan further called for strong action towards stripping Azerbaijan of certain rights. ''Azerbaijan has repeaedly beaten the drum for its right to the territories [Armenian-liberated regions surrounding Artsakh]; hence, it must now be stripped of them. This kind of practice is alien to the Armenian politics as we, on the contrary, have time and again given up our rights,'' he said, hgihlighting the urgent need of a closer collaboration with the international community [to understand the rationale behind the vast privileges granted to Azerbaijan].

The expert said he feels that the Baku authorities are currently facing increasing hardships ''after many years of covering up frontline offensives behind the veil of diplomacy''.  ''And that worked as a leverage of pressure upon Armenia. It is now much more difficult for them to do a thing of the kind to later gain political  dividents from it,'' he added.

''While permanently rejecting the proposals by Armenia, they have no reason at all to explain to the international communit. They cannot say why they aren't willing talk [directly] to Artsakh. It isn’t easy really to explain why one should be unwilling, for instance, to deploy monitoring mechanisms along the Line of Contact. They are in a very bad situation indeed - trying to say something, without anyone listening to them,'' he said.

Sargsyan agreed that a military solution will be similarly difficult for Azerbaijan. “Azerbaijan is not in the position of a sole decision-maker.  They do not need a war. They cannot possibly wage a war, and it is [this inability] that makes them feel so desolate,” he said.

In recent comments upon Nikol Pashinyan’s statement - unveiling the agenda of his upcoming meeting with President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan - a foreign policy chief at the Azerbaijani leader’s administration, Hikmet Hajiev, blasted the Armenian prime minister for attempts to “push the negotiations into a deadlock”. “The entire responsibility for [future possible failures] lies upon Armenia,” he told the Russian news agency Interfax.

Pashinyan, who recently conducted an official trip to the Islamic Republic, used the chance of his meeting with the Armenians in Tehran to raise the issue of Karabakh’s status as a subject of international law. He announced plans for arranging a “non-agenda meeting” with the Azerbaijani leader to “consider the negotiation format”.