THE LAW OF STRENGTH, BUT NOT THE STRENGTH OF THE LAW

Switzerland has had the chairmanship of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OSCE [Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe] countries for a rather difficult period accompanied by events which directly threaten the security of the entire zone for which this organisation is responsible. These events, have emphasized, as never before, the crisis in the system of international relations, and were the main topic of discussions at the Council's annual session, which was held in Basle [Switzerland] last week.

As had also been expected, the attention of those attending the session was focused on the events in Ukraine, which have provoked a global crisis in the security sphere. Now the international community should not to allow a new split in Europe, dividing it into enemy camps, Swiss President Didier Burkhalter stated, when handing over the powers of OSCE chairman to Serbia. "This year was no ordinary one for the OSCE. The situation in the security sphere has deteriorated in Europe," he said.

The concerns of the Swiss politician are justified. The events in Ukraine have in fact taken the world back to the period of the cold war and become extremely serious, but unfortunately this is not the only security challenge on the OSCE area.

In May 2014 it was 20 years since the ceasefire regime was established in the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict zone, but this passing date marking the armistice was the tensest in the two decades of the negotiating process. The armed diversion by the Armenian side, which was undertaken at the end of July and beginning of August, resulted in casualties on both sides and became the bloodiest incident in the entire period of what is supposed to be a peace process.

Moreover, Armenia's conducting of large-scale military exercises on the occupied territory of Azerbaijan and in direct proximity to the troops' line of contact has resulted in the shooting down of one of the Armenian Air Force's helicopter gunships which was attempting to attack Azerbaijani positions.

What is more, the latter incident occurred immediately after the meeting of the heads of Azerbaijan, Armenia and France in Paris. As Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev reported in an interview to Russia's "Russia-24" TV channel, besides the conflict's settlement, the sides exchanged opinions on trust-building measures and how to reduce the number of incidents on the line of contact. Against this backdrop, Armenia conducted a provocation with the exercises and the helicopter.

It is understandable that the escalation of tension in the Nagornyy Karabakh confrontation zone has become an important issue which troubled the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and the mediator countries at the session in Basle.

Moreover, the theses in the joint statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State John Kerry and French Secretary of State for European Affairs Harlem Desire were in keeping with the speech by Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov, namely that the provocations in the conflict zone are impermissible, the sides should begin talks as soon as possible on an all-embracing peace settlement under the aegis of the co-chairing countries.

At the same time, in these days when the USA and other mediator countries have stated that the provocations in the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict are unacceptable, the American side itself has conducted another provocation. It has received one of the leaders of the separatist regime, "the speaker of the parliament of the 'Nagornyy Karabakh republic', Ashot Gulyan. What is more, the representative of the regime to which official Washington has denied recognition, was not only received by members of the Armenian diaspora and pro-Armenian congressmen, but also by the co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, James Warlick.

Azerbaijan has repeatedly proved that it is by no means the "army of self-defence of Nagornyy Karabakh" that is behind the occupation of its lands, but the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia. Incidentally, the helicopter that was shot down on 12 November and whose dismal end Warlick discussed with the Nagornyy Karabakh pretender, was also on the books of one of Armenia's military units. Naturally, the discussion by the American side with persons, on whom the solution of the conflict does not depend in any way, can only be assessed in Baku as attempts to present the separatist regime as a party to the conflict and thereby further damage the prospects for its peaceful solution.

On the whole, the contacts between American officials and representatives of the separatist regime, and the annual financial aid to it are damaging Azerbaijani-US relations. 

So, the chairmanship of the OSCE for next year has been entrusted to Serbia. To all appearances, it is very convenient for Azerbaijan that that country is occupying such a high-ranking post, considering not only the high level of bilateral political and economic ties [between our two countries] but also the community of views on resolving problems of territorial integrity, of which both countries have first-hand experience. However, the sad experience of the last few years shows that no country chairing the OSCE nor the decisions taken at the organisation's summits (including the summit in Budapest in 1994 and in Lisbon in 1996) can spur Armenia on to withdraw its troops from Azerbaijani territory.

"International institutions are being distorted in the world, which is quite an alarming and dangerous trend. I think that the world's leading countries should have a definite say here, not only in the form of statements, but also by showing respect for those decisions that are being adopted. Either decisions are not being adopted, but actions are being taken, as we have also seen a few times recently in the modern world," the Azerbaijani president said in the above-mentioned interview. He said "the breakdown of the existing mechanism in international cooperation will simply lead to total chaos."

In brief, the world should be ruled not by the rule of strength, but by the strength of law. But, for the moment we see the reverse happening in Nagornyy Karabakh, as well as in Kosovo and Crimea. In the case of Nagornyy Karabakh, four UN Security Council resolutions have been adopted on the unconditional withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories, but no exhortations to Armenia and promises of economic benefits have helped, nor will they help. As already mentioned, the incident with the helicopter occurred immediately after the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia had supposedly agreed on boosting trust-building measures and not permitting provocations in the conflict zone.

Hence the following conclusion: either the word of the Armenian leadership has no value and should not be believed or this leadership is a puppet in the hands of other forces. To all appearances, both factors come into play here. Consequently, it is pointless to expect any progress from the Sargsyan regime. The problem of ending the occupation can either be resolved in the same way as it was created, that is by force, or we need to come to an agreement with those who are capable of forcing Armenia to accept a peaceful solution.

AT FIRST HAND

"International institutions are being distorted in the world, which is quite an alarming and dangerous trend. I think that the world's leading countries should have a definite say here, not only in the form of statements, but also by showing respect for the decisions that are being adopted. Either decisions are not being adopted, or actions are taken, as we have also seen a few times recently in the modern world,"

Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan