With whom does Baku hold a dialogue in Karabakh? |

“We are ready to talk with Armenians living in Karabakh, but not with people like Vardanyan sent by Moscow, he was sent with a very clear agenda.” This President Ilham Aliyev Europe He said while receiving the delegation headed by Dirk Shubel, the Union’s special envoy for the Eastern Partnership.

“By the way, this process has started,” the head of state said.

“If there were no interference and attempts to stop this process from some of the countries I mentioned earlier, I think the process could have been more dynamic. But so what Pashinyan and neither has anything to do with his government. As I said, Azerbaijan, European Union, USA and Russia between, that is Azerbaijan in his opinion, there should be a consensus among states and institutions that can help in this work”, – Ilham Aliyev stressed.

Several questions arise here. What is this clear agenda of Vardanya mentioned by Aliyev? President what does he mean? He further notes that the dialogue with the Armenians living in Karabakh has already started, and that this process could have been more dynamic if there had been no outside intervention (he makes a clear allusion to Russia). It is interesting Azerbaijan Who and what forces does the leadership communicate with in Karabakh? What does this force represent? After all, it is there now Russia apart from the military, the power is only in the hands of “DQR” separatists.

Erestun Orujlu, a political scientist and director of the East-West Research Center, shared his thoughts on this with the Press Club:

– I think that Aliyev spoke clearly enough about Vardanyan. He is talking about Russia, even if it is hinted at and does not point to a specific address. Because Ruben Vardanyan is a project of Russia.

Aliyev Europe He wants to clearly say to the representative of the Union that, in principle, he wants the “2+1” format, that is Azerbaijan and is ready for Armenia to continue negotiations through the mediation of the parties. It is true that he also mentions Russia here. But we know that the negotiation process is going on in parallel – both with the mediation of Brussels and with the mediation of Moscow. But in addition, the parties – Armenia and Azerbaijan, as they have repeatedly stated, are committed to the continuation of the Brussels process. That is, Aliyev states that he is ready for negotiations with the mediation of the West, at the same time Karabakh and Ruben Vardanian, who has nothing to do with Armenia Karabakh points out that he has no right to speak on behalf of Armenians.

But Aliyev Karabakh It is not entirely clear what he means when he says that the dialogue process with Armenians has already started. Who is leading these negotiations? What format are they in? Under what conditions? In which geography?

I do not exclude that there are indeed certain contacts between the representatives of the Azerbaijani leadership and the Armenians of Karabakh, but the issue remains unclear. If so, at what level? Do those participating in these negotiations declare themselves to be representatives of the so-called “DQR”? because Baku does not accept the existence of this institution at all and is unlikely to negotiate with its representatives. But on the other hand, the Armenian community of Karabakh Russia if it is taken into account that it is under the full control of the military and special services, it can be estimated to what extent this is possible. Who is it possible to talk to then?

I think that this part of I.Aliyev’s statement will be heard both in Azerbaijan and in the near future Armenia although it is not on the agenda in the press, it will be one of the important topics of discussion. Because nothing is really clear. Are there informal leaders of the community, representatives of religious circles, or someone else? How strong are these people? To what extent do they control the situation in Karabakh? Because today, hardly anyone can control the situation in that part of Karabakh where the Armenian community lives without the consent of the Russian peacekeeping contingent or their participation. Perhaps there is someone who was born in Karabakh, but lives outside of it – in Russia and the West. But this is just a possibility. I think that this issue will be clarified in the near future. I really hope so.

Rauf Orujov