No one had any expectations from the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents in Bern, political scientist Manvel Ghumashyan told a press conference today. He added, however, that the meeting showed once again there is no alternative to the peaceful settlement of the Karabakh conflict.
According to the political scientist, the situation around Karabakh has changed, it’s not the same as 1.5-2 years ago, and this is connected with regional developments, as well as Azerbaijan’s domestic and foreign policy issues. He considers that the aggravation of Russian-Turkish relations will also play a role in the Karabakh conflict, at least because Ankara will try to somehow counter Russia.
“The visits of the Turkish Prime Minister and Foreign Minister to Azerbaijan and their statements on Karabakh immediately after the worsening of relations with Russia were no coincidence,” he said.
The political scientist noted that “Azerbaijan further escalates the situation at the border to solve domestic issues.”
As for the statements of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs addressed to both parties, not Azerbaijan, Ghumashyan said: “The task of the Co-Chairs is to bring the parties to negotiations. They have no mission of imposing peace.”
“If they pressure one of the parties, it can make that party leave the talks and declare the negotiating format is not objective,” he added.
“This is the reason why they address both parties, while knowing who’s guilty. This is diplomacy and there’s no need to dig deeper,” the political scientist said.
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