This year, thanks to the establishment of an Azerbaijani border checkpoint in the Lachin corridor and Armenia's official recognition of the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement has moved far ahead on the key issue of closing the separatist project in Karabakh. Yerevan no longer smuggles weapons and militants into the Karabakh economic region of Azerbaijan, does not put forward territorial claims against Baku, and gradually cuts off contacts with the separatists. "Vestnik Kavkaza" spoke with the head of the Center for Studies of the South Caucasus Farhad Mammadov about the current state of the process of normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
- Can Armenia's recognition of the Karabakh economic region as part of the Azerbaijani territories be called the beginning of the final solution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani problem?
- This is a fundamental part of the issue, which is extremely important for Azerbaijan. At the same time, we must understand that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan expressed this idea with a precondition. Yerevan wants the dialogue between Baku and the Karabakh Armenians to take place with the participation of international mediators. Azerbaijan does not agree with this condition, since this issue is its internal affair.
Nevertheless, the Armenian side practically has no room for maneuver. A draft peace treaty has been formed on the initiative of the Azerbaijani side. The document is based on five principles.
- What are these five principles?
- The principles of the peace treaty include: mutual recognition of territorial integrity, non-interference in internal affairs, peaceful resolution of problems, the beginning of demarcation and delimitation of the border without the use of force, as well as unblocking of communications based on the countries' sovereignty.
Currently, the main expectations of the Armenian side in the negotiations are to ensure the security of the territory of Armenia with the help of the guarantors of the peace treaty, the withdrawal of troops in certain sections of the border and the international format of negotiations between Baku and the Karabakh Armenians.
- Does Azerbaijan agree with the international format?
- No, the country considers this issue its internal affair. Baku has claims against Yerevan, in particular, that the Armenian authorities continue to illegally keep their troops in the zone of temporary deployment of Russian peacekeepers, financing them and providing them with resources. Baku considers such steps the main obstacle to the settlement of relations.
- Should we expect the withdrawal of troops demanded by Yerevan?
- Azerbaijan does not accept this either. Especially, the country does not accept it on the border that has been formed after the 2020 war. More than 600 km of this border had been previously occupied by Armenian forces, and after the liberation of these territories, Armenia stated that it considered certain sections of the border "occupied by Azerbaijan".
Baku is not going to withdraw its troops and is ready to delimit the border only on the basis of the current situation. Armenia can place various monitoring missions on its territory to demarcate the border.
- Is Baku working to integrate the Karabakh Armenians into the Azerbaijani legal field?
- On the part of Azerbaijan, the guarantees of the rights and security of the Karabakh Armenians are expressed at the level of the President and the head of the Foreign Ministry. There is an obstacle to the conclusion of a peace agreement and the reintegration of the Karabakh Armenians. It is the presence of the Armenian Armed forces in Karabakh.
Unfortunately, Armenia has not been preparing the ground for the inevitable reintegration of the Armenians of the Karabakh economic region for 2.5 years. Only this May, Pashinyan announced Yerevan's recognition of a 86 thousand km area as the territory of Azerbaijan. Representatives of the ruling party of Armenia seem to have taken the line of "separation in the name of salvation", but at the same time, the concept of "ethnic cleansing" is still in the words of Pashinyan and Security Council Secretary Armen Grigoryan.
Therefore, today it must be said that only when the Armenian Armed Forces and heavy weapons are withdrawn and provocations against the military of Azerbaijan come to an end, the Karabakh Armenians will be able to receive all the rights and freedoms of Azerbaijani citizens.
Reintegration is a very difficult process, given that there was a long war and heavy losses. Therefore, the sooner we launch the reintegration, the more effective it will be.
