WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM US?

The recent visit to the South Caucasus by OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier and his statements in Baku and Yerevan clearly showed the tragicomic and paradoxical position of the OSCE on the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict. The OSCE secretary general's visit to Baku is considered to be the result of increased interest in the region and the West's concern about frequent outbreaks of violence at the contact line between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops. Previously, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President of the European Union Herman Van Rompuy and other senior officials of the Western world voiced their concern about this. Zannier's visit to Azerbaijan was very important, considering how long Baku expected the countries cochairing the OSCE Minsk Group and the OSCE itself not only to utter formal words of support, but to take real action. According to the Azerbaijani foreign minister, it is not enough that there is no real action, even proposals have become simply ridiculous.

But first things first...

Expressing concern over the frequent armed incidents on the contact line of troops, accompanied by the loss of life, the OSCE secretary general called such incidents unacceptable and inadmissible and said that immediate action should be taken to prevent further casualties. "The OSCE considers the current status quo in the Nagornyy Karabakh problem unacceptable," he said. At the same time, in his view, refraining from the use of force should be the basic principle of the Karabakh settlement.

Zannier also called for the strengthening of the monitoring role of the OSCE, the withdrawal of snipers, measures of mutual trust and investigation of incidents at the contact line. He stressed that, on the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the ceasefire, and on the other, to expedite the political settlement of the conflict.

The parties themselves must negotiate, while the OSCE also creates a platform for negotiations. Zannier said that there is no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the conflict. Therefore, the parties must demonstrate real political will and readiness to honour their obligations.

The same opinion about the conflict resolution is shared by the representative of a country cochairing the OSCE Minsk Group, the speaker of the parliament of the Russian Federation, Sergey Naryshkin, who was visiting Baku, almost at the same time: "Russia's position on this issue remains unchanged. We are opposed to the Nagornyy Karabakh conflict settlement on the basis of ready recipes from the side. We firmly believe that this problem can be solved if the interests of both parties are met. If such a solution is found, Russia is ready to act as a guarantor of the agreement. But the responsibility for resolving the conflict again lies with the peoples of Azerbaijan and Armenia. We have always strongly demonstrated our position - not to use force and not to threaten to use force. I am an optimist and I hope that this conflict can find a peaceful solution."

Now let's think about what these gentlemen - both from the West and the East - are telling us...

So, 20 years ago, Armenia occupied one-fifth of Azerbaijani territory, vainly trying to create there a kind of state that has not been recognized by anyone. At the same time, voluntary withdrawal from the occupied territories appears to be completely unrealistic. All these years, almost all international organizations, starting from the UN, have recognized this land as Azerbaijani and have called for the withdrawal of the Armenian troops from the territory of the state. Following the escalation of the conflict, the OSCE Minsk Group undertook to resolve this issue. But imagine that more than 20 years have passed! And nothing has changed. And today, when we delve into the essence of statements by countries representing this group, a reasonable question arises: do they themselves understand what they want?

What are the key messages heard from the OSCE Minsk Group? Here are some of them:

- The status quo, i.e. the current situation is UNACCEPTABLE.

- The negotiation process has stalled because the parties' positions are diametrically opposed.

- The use of force or even THREATS TO USE FORCE are unacceptable.

- Try to find a common language yourselves. We will not interfere in your negotiations, but "you must withdraw snipers from the contact line and take steps that will improve the level of mutual trust".

- You need to find some kind of "political will" to solve this problem.

Should we, Azerbaijan, put up with the occupation of the territories, which the whole world recognizes as ours?

As for the snipers and monitoring, Mr Zannier received a response immediately.

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov said that "the problem is not in the mechanisms of investigating incidents, but in the occupation of the Azerbaijani territories". In his view, "the withdrawal of Armenian troops from the occupied territories will automatically eliminate questions related to the withdrawal of snipers, incidents and mechanisms of investigation".

As for political will, the answer was unequivocal and clear. At a cabinet meeting on socioeconomic development in the first half of 2012 and the challenges ahead, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev made a statement in which he set the record straight: "We will solve this issue and raise the flag of Azerbaijan in Xankandi."

The beginning of large-scale exercises involving the air force near the front line can also be considered a response from Azerbaijan. Whatever it is, the further fate of the negotiation process depends on Armenia's constructivism.