Artsakh: talks are based on a fundamental flaw

PanARMENIAN.Net - In the July 8 edition of The Washington Post, reporter Will Englund reminds that for more than a decade, Russia, the United States and various European organizations have been trying to sponsor a framework peace agreement that would finally settle the conflict in Nagorno Karabakh, which itself doesn’t have a seat at the table.

“Nagorno Karabakh is ready for compromise,” President Bako Sahakyan said. “But it has to have the opportunity to discuss the issue with Azerbaijan directly.”

Nagorno Karabakh says it won’t give up land if that means it must retreat to indefensible borders. Officials familiar with the Minsk Group deliberations say it is clear that any settlement will have to be accepted by Nagorno Karabakh, but that’s a problem for the next phase - which is unlikely to come anytime soon, the article reads.

The latest round of negotiations was held in the Russian city of Kazan on June 24, and broke up without results. Some Nagorno Karabakh officials say that failure shows it’s time to try a new approach: giving them a seat at the negotiating table.

Masis Mayilian, who was Deputy Foreign Minister and a onetime candidate for president, said the problem with the Minsk process is that it’s based on what he considers a fundamental flaw: In 1991, the international community decided to recognize the Soviet-era borders of the newly independent states. That is why Nagorno Karabakh hasn’t been recognized, hasn’t been included in the talks, and is officially still considered part of Azerbaijan, even though it declared independence before the Soviet breakup.

“The Minsk Group could be effective,” Mayilian noted, “but as long as they work based on a mistaken premise, they put the brakes on the process.”

At the same time, others here argue that not taking part in the negotiations gives Nagorno Karabakh the ultimate veto right over any compromise, the article says.

Sahakyan, in arguing for inclusion, said he wants nonetheless to be careful not to torpedo the Minsk Group process altogether. “Just having the talks going on has helped bring Nagorno Karabakh a certain measure of peace and stability,” he said. “We value any such meeting, even in a distorted format, and these meetings will bring closer Nagorno Karabakh’s participation in these talks.”