Progress possible if Baku accepts Karabakh as party to conflict

PanARMENIAN.Net - Convent 2008 conference was held under in Moscow State Institute of International relations. As the Union of Armenians of Russia told PanARMENIAN.Net a special discussion was dedicated to the South Caucasus problems.



The UAR was represented by Gegham Khalatyan, Levon Mukanyan and Vahe Hovhannisian.



According to Azeri expert Arif Yunusov, pro-Russian attitude of mind began fading in Azerbaijan while Islamists and pro-western force gained strength after the South Ossetia tragedy.



"The point is that the Azeri public is unaware of the situation, because Russian TV channels are not broadcast in the republic," he said. He voiced an opinion that during next 10 years the Aliyevs will maintain power in the person of Mehriban Aliyeva, the incumbent President's wife. As to the Karabakh process, Yunusov doesn't expect any progress in the near future.



"Progress in talks is possible if Baku accepts Karabakh as a party to conflict," said Vladimir Kazimirov, former Russian Co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group. "Even Saakashvili, with all his cranks, recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as parities to conflict," he remarked.



Russia should press for signing of an agreement on non-use of force, according to him. "Azerbaijan's bellicose statements provoke armament drive and mutilate mentality," Kazimirov said.



UAR Vice President Gegham Khalatyan supported this position, saying, "If we respect the USSR institutes, its territorial divisions, inside borders (including Nagorno Karabakh's annexation to Azerbaijan), we should also respect the USSR Constitution, which says that after the country's decline, the status of autonomous republics is determined through a referendum."