LESSONS IN SABOTAGE FROM ARMENIA

The leader of Armenia has violated Azerbaijan's state border once again. On 28 August, Serzh Sargsyan visited occupied Nagornyy Karabakh to take part in events dedicated to the 19th anniversary of the proclamation of the so-called "independence" of the unrecognized "Nagornyy Karabakh Republic" (NKR).

Such provocations by Armenia at a time when peace talks are underway have long ceased to surprise the world. But since they are talking about the anniversary, let us turn to history.

Armenia launched the occupation of Nagornyy Karabakh in 1988, organizing rallies among the Armenians of Karabakh demanding separation from Azerbaijan and incorporation into Armenia. In December 1989, the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR adopted a decision to incorporate (!) Nagornyy Karabakh into Armenia. But, realizing that the world would view these actions as Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, on 2 September 1991, the Armenians, as Krylov's famous fable says, decided "to give a legitimate form and sense to the issue" and adopted a declaration on the so-called "independence" of the self-proclaimed NKR, appealing to the principle of national self-determination. No Azerbaijanis were left in either Armenia or Nagornyy Karabakh by that time - hundreds of thousands of people had been the victims of ethnic cleansing and were made refugees and internally displaced persons.

But, no matter how the Armenian side "juggled" the terms "independence", "free will" and "right to self-determination", the world recognized Yerevan as the occupier, as evidenced by numerous resolutions of the UN General Assembly, Council of Europe, European Union, OIC and other international organizations. Therefore, the negotiator with Azerbaijan is Armenia, and not the Armenians of Karabakh.

Meanwhile, according to Russia, one of the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, the process of settling the conflict has seen some advances. Therefore, Moscow suggests recording the progress that has been made on most of the document on the basic principles of a settlement, according to an ITAR-TASS report of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's words.

"The ongoing work on the so-called basic principles has borne some fruit in terms of finding formulations that can make it possible to ensure the parties' consent at this stage," the minister said, adding that this does not mean that with the completion of work on the basic principles, the problem will be solved. "The parties are involved in this work based on the fact that after the basic principles, in any case, they need to prepare a legal document - a peace agreement," Lavrov said.

However, in his words, the parties had failed to reach agreement on everything concerning the draft basic principles, but "on a substantial part of the text, there is an understanding that we have almost reached compromise formulations", the Russian foreign minister explained.

Lavrov noted that two or three questions remain unsolved, and the Russian side proposes that they should be considered as points that require further discussion. "It should be written more clearly that without these two questions, there will be no final agreement," the minister added.

"At this stage it would make it possible to record the progress that has been achieved on most of the text and, in this way, to consolidate what has been achieved to date," he concluded.

According to Lavrov, Russia's proposals were backed by the other co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - the United States and France.

But will the parties to the conflict support this initiative? According to Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, it would be possible to resolve the Karabakh conflict now if Yerevan assessed the efforts of the international mediators correctly.

"In the meantime, Armenia rejects the co-chairs' proposals, and this has created a certain stagnation in the negotiations," Azimov told reporters in Baku.

As for Lavrov's statement that only two or three questions remain unsolved and the parties can already record progress on most of the basic principles, the Azerbaijani diplomat pointed out that it all depends on the significance of the unresolved issues.

"Perhaps just one issue will remain disputed, but its significance can leave all other issues in limbo. The main issue in this case is whether Armenia is ready to move forward together with Azerbaijan. That is to say, while recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, is Armenia ready to support the development of a model of coexistence between the two communities (Azerbaijani and Armenian) in Nagornyy Karabakh, based on the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan?" said Azimov.

"In other words, if Armenia recognizes the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan will also recognize the territorial integrity of Armenia," he explained. "In the case of Armenia's consent to solving the problem based on territorial integrity, all other questions can be resolved in a single day. All difficulties are centred on this issue," according to Interfax.

In the meantime, Armenia is pulling the wool over the international mediators' eyes, sabotaging the peace process at a critical point every time. While the OSCE Minsk Group are trying to second guess the next Armenian charade about some new, hitherto unknown principle of the settlement, Serzh Sargsyan strolls around in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, demonstrating his disregard for international law.