On the 26th of September, Azerbaijani and Armenian top diplomats in the face of Elmar Mammadyarov and Zohrab Mnatsakanyan held an official meeting on the sidelines of the 73rd UN General Assembly session to discuss Nagorno Karabakh dispute, After 3 hours of talks the 2 senior diplomats agreed to hold an official meeting with the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs next month. The next talks are planned at the end of October. On the other side, on the 28th of September President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Premier of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan met for the first on the sidelines of the CIS Heads of State Council meeting.

Eurasia Diary asked international experts to share their thoughts concerning the upcoming meeting between Azerbaijan and Armenia planned in October.

Paul A. Goble, an American analyst, writer and columnist who served as special adviser on Soviet nationality issues and Baltic affairs to Secretary of State James Baker said: “I don't see any breakthrough likely in the near term. Pashinyan can't afford to back away from his position given the upcoming elections in Armenia, and Azerbaijan has no reason to move from its insistence on the restoration of its territorial integrity”.

Paul A. Goble - political analyst and writer

He also added: "He is playing to his domestic audience, and that confirms what I said earlier: there isn't going to be any movement anytime soon”.

Another American expert in the face of Peter Tase commented on the upcoming meeting in such a way: “Dialogue between Azerbaijan and Armenia is always important, over the last two decades Baku has fulfilled all International obligations and Azerbaijan's sovereign territory is occupied by Armenian Armed Forces and Azerbaijan's families have suffered terribly from a forced ethnic cleansing and violent crimes. With this in mind, Armenia must urgently withdraw its troops from Nagorno Karabakh and its seven surrounding districts, all these swaths of territory are historic Azerbaijani lands. To have concrete results international community must refrain from applying double standards and should pressure Yerevan to respect international laws and preserve peace instead of inflicting destruction in the region. Unfortunately, I do not expect any tangible results from the latest bilateral meeting in New York. A major international pressure on Armenia and other parties should take place in New York during the week UN General Assembly”

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Peter Tase - political analyst

American expert also clarified the main challenges for the conflict resolution in the peaceful framework. He said the following words: “The Nagorno Karabakh conflict is a protracted crisis that is heavily affecting Armenian economy, international attention has been limited, and Azerbaijan is treated unfairly by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and other countries that ignore international laws. It is time to have European Union countries, United States, Japan, Germany, and other players to pressure the occupation forces of Armenia to immediately withdraw from Azerbaijani lands, only after this withdrawal bilateral negotiations can effectively take place”.

Vahe Avetian, an Armenian exiled writer commented on the issue concerning possible reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Armenia

Vahe Avetian - Armenian writer

“It will be a formal (protocol) meeting between 2 parties. I do not expect anything new in talks between the representatives. My opinion remains the same. We must create a social order of peace by popular movements and to force the authorities to make peace. The professionals are aware of how to do this. The best model from the historical examples is Aland (an archipelago province at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia in the Baltic Sea belonging to Finland), which resembles the Nagorno Karabakh issue. Actually, I consider that the best compromise will be the independence of Karabakh within Azerbaijan".

Vahe Avetian also touched upon the issue of the 7 adjacent regions to Nagorno-Karabakh. He emphasized: “Armenia must return 7 adjoining districts after the security of both peoples will be guaranteed. The vivid example of such rapprochement between the conflict parties is the Scandinavia. I see the level of cooperation in Scandinavia, where the Danes, Swedes, Norwegians are getting along well with each other. They don’t talk anymore about national boundaries. Today, they perfectly collaborate together”.

Akber Bayramov

Eurasia Diary