Trend Commentator Arzu Nagiyev
Azerbaijan, Baku, June 8 / Trend /
On the eve of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's visit to the region, the situation on the contact line between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops became strained. As a result of a sabotage attack committed by the Armenian army on June 5 at the Azerbaijani post in the north-west of the country, Azerbaijani armed forces suffered losses with the killing under gunfire of five Azerbaijani soldiers. The enemy also suffered when the assailants were killed and wounded.
Recent developments on the front-line once again prove that the conflict has not come to an end, but gradually increases to become large scaled turning the whole situation into a bigger problem which becomes harder and harder to be solved. And the longer the current situation remains, the more both sides suffer losses of young soldiers resulting in their families facing misfortune.
What is the solution? Seek ways to liberate lands, use the existing situation, or, as the last way out, choose a military solution to the conflict? To do this, international organisations should exert pressure on Armenia.
It is necessary to return the occupied territories of Azerbaijan and withdraw the Armenian army from there. But how? In the present situation one can conclude that the United States, Russia and the EU, which should exert pressure on Armenia, should want it.
The fact that this conflict began 25 years ago and is not still resolved first led to the fact that Europeans forgot about it. One can say that all the local conflicts that occurred in Europe have been partially, or completely resolved.
Secondly, it is difficult to imagine that a strong Armenian diaspora will agree to such a solution to the conflict. On the other hand recognition of the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh or loss of these territories is a condition unacceptable for the Azerbaijani side.
No one will exert pressure on Azerbaijan and even in the case of exerting it, no one can explain it. The OSCE mission meets and recommends that the problem should be solved peacefully. The special role of Russia and other members of the Minsk Group - France and the United States in resolving this conflict means turning into a major participant in a strategically important region.
So, Azerbaijan is the only country that tries to change the status quo and resolve the conflict, the country that is interested in it. It is impossible to imagine otherwise. Although Russia wants to benefit from both sides, it chose Armenia as a historical and constant ally. One can say that without the Russians the Armenians would not have been able to establish their own state. On the other hand, the Russians do not think of interrupting their relations with Azerbaijan because of Nagorno-Karabakh, as Azerbaijan may supply its gas and oil to Europe and bypass Russia by alternative routes. The country has turned into a giant power in the Caspian region. It is a state that pursues its independent energy policy and at the same time has a joint transport corridor with Turkey, which is a NATO member and with which Azerbaijan has a comprehensive relationship.
Thus one can conclude that it is impossible to put pressure on Azerbaijan by force and sooner or later compromise should be found and this 'knot' should be untied taking into account national interests, thanks to mutual concessions and achieving the peace. Otherwise, the daily press and television news will continue to report on human losses from both sides.