2012 will start from discussions of old topical issues. French co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Bernard Fassier said that the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will continue negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. Vestnik Kavkaza has clarified that Baku, Yerevan and Moscow have the same expectations from the meeting.
Alexander Iskandaryan, Director of the Institute for the Caucasus, said that there is nothing to expect from the meeting. Vladimir Yevseyev, Director of the Center for Socio-Political Studies, said that the meeting itself reduces tensions in Azerbaijani-Armenian relations. Any solution of the most minor issues allows the peace process to continue, such as it is in Israeli-Palestinian relations. If they stop meeting there would be a military confrontation. The expert concluded by stating that no breakthroughs should be expected.
Fikret Sadykhov, a diplomat and professor of the Western University in Baku, said that there will be no progress without new ideas and with commitment to compromises. The limit of Azerbaijani compromises is over. The seven occupied territories are a well-known fact, the status of Nagorno-Karabakh has not been determined, the Madrid principles are not realized and this is not the fault of Azerbaijan. Baku has been holding peace negotiations for almost 20 years and does not want to abandon the process. It needs practical results. A lot depends on the efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group, the expert believes, adding that pressure may need to be used to free the territories.
