Stalemate in Karabakh peace talks inevitable without Stepanakert’s direct involvement in process

PanARMENIAN.Net -
The statements on the preamble of updated Madrid Principles being coordinated is a positive factor, says Sergey Minasyan, Vice Director of Caucasus Institute.



“The negotiations will not definitely accelerate the conflict settlement process, but Azerbaijan will be forced to renounce its military rhetoric,” he told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter in an interview.



At that, he expressed hope that the outcome of Armenian, Russian and Azerbaijani Presidents’ meeting in Sochi will enable Turkey to speed up the ratification of Armenia-Turkey Protocols.



“The process of Karabakh conflict settlement depends on NKR. If Nagorno Karabakh is not involved in the talks, the process will be pointless,” he said, touching upon the rumors on the issue being discussed during the recent meeting.



The trilateral meeting between Armenian, Azerbaijani and Russian leaders took place in Sochi on Monday, Jan. 25. Following the meeting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov summed up the results, estimating the discussions as positive.



As informed by a high ranking official, the necessity of NKR’s participation in the next round of talks was enshrined in the preamble to the agreement on Karabakh conflict settlement. The preamble also enshrines the priority of self-determination principle.



The conflict between Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan broke out in 1988 as result of the ethnic cleansing the latter launched in the final years of the Soviet Union. The Karabakh War was fought from 1991 to 1994. Since the ceasefire in 1994, sealed by Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan, most of Nagorno Karabakh and several regions of Azerbaijan around it (the security zone) remain under the control of NKR defense army. Armenia and Azerbaijan are holding peace talks mediated by the OSCE Minsk Group up till now.



The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation.



On January 12, 2010, the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia found the protocols conformable to the country’s Organic Law.