Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
July 1, 2011 Friday
Russian University Caucasian Center head: Int’l players interested in
resolving Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
by E. Tariverdiyeva, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan
July 01–The interest of international players in resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be stipulated by energy issues,
Associate Professor of the History Faculty, Head of the Caucasian
Center at the Russian State Humanities University, Trend Expert
Council member Ismail Agakishiyev said.
“The interest of international players in resolving the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict may be stipulated by energy issues,”
Agakishiyev said at a press-conference in Baku. “The economic projects
with Russia, which strengthen partnership between the two countries,
can also play an important role.”
Agakishiyev said that Russia has recently participated in the
Nagorno-Karabakh process more actively. But new intermediaries are
required to move forward. “If the U.S. today takes the same active
position as it did in the 1990s by signing the “contract of century”,
it may be helpful in the negotiation process,” Agakishiyev said.
The conflict may only be solved peacefully, he said. He added that
Azerbaijan has a more flexible position in the negotiations.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group — Russia, France, and the U.S.
— are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the
surrounding regions.