Azerbaijani expert: Deployment of peacekeeping forces in conflict zone extremely dangerous for Azerbaijan

"President Barack Obama made it clear to the Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan during his visit to Washington that America does not want to link resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with opening the Armenian-Turkish border,” the political expert said.

“If this is stated by Washington, it means that other OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs will not support Ankara’s condition.”

“It is worth noting that the choice of the countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group is not favorable for Azerbaijan. All three states have extremely strong Armenian diaspora. A Western government will hardly neglect voices of Armenian voters, especially since they play an important role in the socio-economic life of the country. Given all this, I think that there is almost no prospects for a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh problem. In this situation, Azerbaijan is forced to negotiate to avoid strong external pressure,” the expert added.

“Even if the West favors Azerbaijan’s position on the Karabakh conflict, the process of resolving this issue would still encounter opposition in Yerevan, because military leadership of the Karabakh war, which came to power after the Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, rules there. Serzh Sargsyan is just Armenian field commander whose hands have been stained with blood of killed Azerbaijanis. If he signs an agreement returning occupied lands to Azerbaijan, he will be immediately swept away. Therefore, Sargsyan would never do it,” the expert noted.

"In this situation, delaying resolution of the Karabakh conflict may make this conflict eternal,”  he said.

"It is extremely dangerous for Azerbaijan to give consent to deployment of international peacekeeping forces in the conflict zone. Such actions have been committed in Kosovo and Georgia, and we all are aware what consequences it had. This indicates that war is the only way to return the occupied lands. For this purpose, Azerbaijan’s army needs be more professional,” Alizade added.

Z. Ahmadov
Day.Az