Daily Times

The hostilities in the Karabakh conflict zone, which began on September 27, continue with even greater intensity. Even the humanitarian ceasefire regime reached on October 10 in Moscow between Azerbaijan and Armenia did not in any way deter Armenia from continuing hostilities. Despite the fact that there are big losses on both sides, the scales tilt only in one direction in Karabakh – in the direction of Azerbaijan. For more than three weeks of hostilities, the Azerbaijani army managed to liberate large cities – Fizuli, Jebrail, Zangilan, the villages of Hadrut and more than 120 settlements. With the liberation of the Agbend settlement, complete control over the state border of Azerbaijan and the Islamic Republic of Iran was ensured. Several factors played a role in unleashing the Karabakh war.

The first major factor that has seriously worried both the authorities and society for almost 30 years is Armenia’s failure to comply with four UN Security Council resolutions adopted at the height of the Karabakh war in 1993, demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and the return of about 1 million internally displaced persons to their homes. Almost 30 years have passed, but these resolutions have remained unfulfilled to this day.

The second factor is the ineffective work of the OSCE Minsk Group on the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Official Baku hoped that the OSCE Minsk Group for the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict would finally untie the gordian “Karabakh” knot, but, unfortunately, this mediation group was unable to resolve the Karabakh conflict on the basis of international law, in accordance with the resolutions UN Security Council. Peace talks held for almost three decades under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group did not lead to the de-occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Azerbaijan understood that it is senseless to continue to rely on the observance of these resolutions. Over these almost 30 years, the status quo around Karabakh has not changed, there have been no substantive negotiations. If you wait another 30 years, it will create completely different realities. Having liberated a number of its territories from the Armenian occupiers, Azerbaijan itself is implementing the resolutions of the UN Security Council. Although it should have been done by the UN. At present, the Azerbaijani side has almost implemented resolution No. 874, which speaks of the immediate withdrawal of Armenian troops from Fizuli, Jabrayil, and Gubadli regions. The cities of Fizuli and Jebrail have already been liberated. For Azerbaijan, this is a liberation, patriotic war. And what is Armenia fighting for?

The hostilities taking place in the zone of the Karabakh conflict are the expression of the will of the Azerbaijani people, who were extremely exhausted by almost 30 years of fruitless negotiations on Karabakh

The third factor is that after Prime Minister NikolPashinyan came to power, everything that had been worked out before, with the previous leaders of Armenia, was rejected by the current government of the country. There was also an attempt to change the format of negotiations, to involve the authorities of the so-called Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the negotiations, which was rejected both by Baku and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Under Pashinyan, the negotiation process on Karabakh came to a final deadlock, because the current government rejected the basic principles for resolving the conflict, developed by the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. What are the basic principles? The liberation of the occupied Azerbaijani regions is planned in a phased plan. At the first stage, this is the southeastern part of the occupied territories – five regions. At the second stage, these are the territories located between Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia – Lachin and Kelbajar regions. Then it is planned to open all communications, including communications, which are located in other parts of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. The return of refugees and internally displaced persons to their places of origin is also enshrined in the basic principles. After the fulfillment of these conditions, it is planned to start negotiations on the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh, which must be agreed by both sides. The Azerbaijani side is ready to abide by the basic principles, but the new Armenian government has repeatedly stated that it is unacceptable, that they will not return a single centimeter of land. Moreover, Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan stated that “Karabakh is the territory of Armenia” and Armenian Defense Minister Tonoyan threatened Azerbaijan to seize new territories. After his rhetoric, Armenia staged a military provocation in the Tovuz direction of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border (this is not Karabakh), but attempts to drag Azerbaijan into a war on the sovereign territory of Armenia were unsuccessful. What should Azerbaijan have done correctly if the peace negotiations for almost 30 years did not change the status quo, if they did not ensure the withdrawal of Armenian troops from Karabakh, if not a single centimeter of our land was given to the Azerbaijani side through the mediation of the OSCE Minsk Group?

The hostilities taking place in the zone of the Karabakh conflict are the expression of the will of the Azerbaijani people, who were extremely exhausted by almost 30 years of fruitless negotiations on Karabakh. In today’s address to his people, President IlhamAliyev clearly stated that the war will continue until the Armenian troops are withdrawn from Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan, on one condition, will sit down at the negotiating table, if official Yerevan agrees to fulfill the basic principles of the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict – this is the liberation of all occupied Azerbaijani lands. To wait another 30 years would create completely different realities. Because over the past three decades, thousands of Syrian and Lebanese families have been resettled to the occupied Azerbaijani territories, cells of the terrorist organization ASALA were created, as well as drug plantations (plantations with drug plants and a laboratory were found on the territory of Fizuli region liberated by the Azerbaijani army). Believe me, in another 30 years – here we would see a completely different reality….

The director of the international expert club EurAsiaAz and editor-in-chief of Azerbaijan news agency Vzglyad.az