InternationalThreats of renewed war on the eve of settlement talks
Presidential summit in Saint Petersburg
Published: Tuesday August 05, 2008
President Serge Sargsian of Armenia. Photolure
Yerevan - We must be prepared to liberate our territories by way of war at any time," President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan announced on June 4 in the city of Julfa on Nakhichevan's Iranian border, the online Azerbaijani news agency Day.az reported. Mr. Aliyev was in Nakhichevan, an exclave of Azerbaijan, to meet with Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, Turkey's president.
"Turkey will always support Baku's equitable position in settlement of the Karabakh conflict," the Azerbaijani Trend Agency quotes Mr. Erdo?an as saying. He added that Turkey has always supported Azerbaijan's position. Mr. Aliyev, in turn, thanked Turkey for its unwavering support of Azerbaijan in peace negotiations with Armenia.
Azerbaijan's bellicose rhetoric is nothing new. The timing, however, is unusual. The threat of renewed war came on the eve of a summit scheduled for June 6 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, between the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
And only a day before President Aliyev's statement, the Azerbaijani defense minister on June 3 stated that Armenia must vacate Azerbaijani occupied territories soon, without any preconditions. "If the Armenians will not leave the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, then the situation may be out of control," Safar Abiyev said in a meeting with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which mediates in the Karabakh conflict. Mr. Bryza was on a visit to Baku.
Years ago, when secret Israel-Palestinian talks were taking place in Madrid, experts sensed something was afoot because both sides had toned down their militant rhetoric. Eduard Nalbandian, Armenia's foreign minister, made this point when asked about Azerbaijan's threats of war on the eve of the first meeting between Serge Sargsian, in his capacity as president of Armenia, and Mr. Aliyev.
"In the process of resolving any conflict, campaigning must be put on hold. It is impossible to resolve any conflict especially when such bellicose campaigning continues. The other side's approach is very odd. Let us recall 2001, when we were very close to a resolution, and the Azerbaijani side said, ‘You know, we are not ready because our public opinion is not ready for that.' Public opinion must be prepared not at the conclusion of negotiations, not when you are signing an agreement, but much earlier," Mr. Nalbandian said in his first press conference as foreign minister.
He added that Armenia was going to the Saint Petersburg meeting in high spirits because, "We are certain that a continuation of the conflict is in neither Armenia's nor Azerbaijan's interests." He recalled that the Madrid Document was on the table.
"The document is not a contract because it is not yet signed; agreement has not been achieved on all points. We have announced, and I can confirm, that Armenia is ready to continue negotiations on the basis of those proposals," Mr. Nalbandian said. A positive sign, he said, would be an announcement after the summit to the effect that negotiations are continuing.
In an interview with Day.az, Mr. Bryza described the Saint Petersburg talks as "purely an acquaintance meeting." He added, "I do not expect anything else from it. A person should know his vis-à-vis, with whom he will have to negotiate."
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan last met a year ago, again in Saint Petersburg. Then-President Robert Kocharian and Mr. Aliyev held a meeting on June 9, 2007, that even the chronically optimistic co-chairs characterized as disappointing.
