By Azernews

By Rashid Shirinov

After the meetings of Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents in Vienna and St. Petersburg in May and June 2016 respectively to discuss the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the negotiation process came into stagnation. Armenia, a party to the negotiation process, shows reluctance, thus tremendously hampering the peace process.

Soon after France proposed to hold the 3+2 format meeting [three co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group and Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers], Azerbaijan positively responded to the initiative. However, Yerevan has yet to give neither ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer. This position indeed demonstrates Armenia's interest in preserving the status quo in the region.

Some experts suppose that Russia, a co-chairing country at the OSCE Minsk Group on Nagorno-Karabakh problem, has its individual plan of solution to the protracted Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Fed of the inaction and destructive behavior of Yerevan, Moscow may have decided to take matters into their own hands, and, apparently, has its own plan, given a number of features and deep knowledge of the region.

This can be regarded as a response to inactivity of the Minsk Group in the settlement of the conflict, which can bring new countries to resolution of the problem.

“Russia had the initiative to settle the conflict out of the OSCE Minsk group,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in Baku after meeting with his Russian colleague Sergey Lavrov in Turkish Alanya on December 1. It is noteworthy that the Turkish Minister arrived in Baku after meeting with Lavrov, which also shows that a serious process has been launched around the Nagorno-Karabakh process.

Lavrov recently spoke positively about the role that Turkey could play in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement. In his opinion, the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will only benefit from the participation of Ankara. In turn, while in Baku, Cavusoglu said that Turkey will support Russia's efforts in the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement.

The fact that Russia will further seek resolution to the conflict is seen in the new Russian foreign policy concept, which reads that the country will support settlement to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

Thus, it is evident that big regional players have started to show activity in the negotiation process, which Yerevan, mired in internal strife and problems, tries to refuse.

Given the fact that the Minsk Group could not gain significant progress in finding solution to the problem for more than twenty years, activities of Russia, Turkey and other possible countries may finally solve the conflict and bring peace in the region.

Today, when the aggressor country distanced itself and actually refused to negotiate, Azerbaijan, which makes every endeavor to finish the Nagorno-Karabakh problem, may have a real chance of progress in the issue. That is because negotiating with sane mediators to the conflict seems more worthwhile than endlessly trying to contact a country that cannot sit down at the negotiating table and solve the problem.

Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts.