Both international situation and Armenia-Turkey rapprochement are favorable for Karabakh conflict settlement, according to International Crisis Group (ICG) analyst Tabib Huseynov .

“No doubt, Armenia-Turkey rapprochement will give impetus to Karabakh conflict settlement, yet Ankara won’t agree to normalize relations and open borders to the detriment of Azerbaijan. Turkey will open borders only after Karabakh issue is resolved,” the expert noted at 73rd NATO PA Rose-Roth seminar in Yerevan.

According to him, preserving status quo in Karabakh conflict zone is more dangerous than gradual and predictable change in the situation. “Conflicting parties have to use favorable international situation to achieve settlement within the next few months,” Tabib Huseynov concluded.

The Nagorno-Karabakh (armed) conflict broke out back in 1991, when, subsequent to the demand for self-determination of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, Azerbaijani authorities attempted to resolve the issue through ethnic cleansings, carried out by Soviet security forces (KGB special units) under the pretext of the implementation of the passport regime and by launching of large-scale military operations, which left thousands dead and caused considerable material damage. A cease-fire agreement was established in 1994. Negotiations on the settlement of the conflict are being conducted under the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairmen (Russia, USA, France) and on the basis of their Madrid proposals, presented in November, 2007.

Azerbaijan has not yet implemented the 4 resolutions of the UN Security Council adopted in 1993, by continuing to provoke arms race in the region and openly violating on of the basic principles of the international law non-use of force or threat of force.