Azerbaijan, Baku, Oct. 22. / Trend E.Ostapenko /
Restoration of diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey can not cause Yerevan's unconstructive position in the negotiation process on the Nagorno-Karabakh, International Crisis Group' Europe Program Director Sabine Freizer believes.
"The Armenian-Turkey rapprochement will actually encourage the Armenians to be more flexible in the negotiation with Azerbaijan," Freizer said "The talks lack progress because the remaining issues are extremely difficult."
The last meeting of Heads of States did not give cause for optimism, because the Armenian side suddenly began to discuss the issues that were agreed two to three years ago, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov told Trend . Mammadyarov believes that such actions by the Armenian side are connected with the latest events in the region - the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement.
Turkish and Armenian Foreign Ministers, Ahmet Davutoglu and Edward Nalbandian signed the Ankara-Yerevan protocol in Zurich on Oct. 10.
Armenian-Turkish ties have been severed since 1993 due to Armenia's claims of an alleged genocide, and the country's occupation of 20 percent of Azerbaijani lands.
The protocols are under discussion in the Turkish parliament and soon they will be submitted to the Armenian parliament for ratification.
In addition to the so-called "Armenian genocide" in 1915, the Armenian territorial claim on Turkish lands of Eastern Anatolia is one of the main points of the Armenia - Turkey conflict.
However, despite the long-term controversy, in April the two countries agreed on a "road map" normalization of the relations between them.
"Maybe the Armenian side considers that if the process developed in this regard, it is possible to freeze other issues," said the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan in an interview with Trend .
Presidents of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and Armenia Serzh Sargsyan held met on Oct. 9 in Kishinev. This is was the seventh meeting of Heads of States on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.
According to Freizer, the Armenians main argument for retaining control over the occupied territories is because they say "We need to have these territories as a security guarantee. We feel isolated and we need these territories to protect ourselves".
"Once the border with Turkey is open, that excuse will no longer be valid. They will have access to the rest of the world. And thus they will no longer be able to say that they need all these territories as security guarantees," she added.
The reason why Azerbaijan and Armenia have been unable to agree to a kind of compromise is that they are still dealing with issues that extremely difficult to resolve, Freized added.
One of the main questions is the status of Nagorno-Karabakh.
But the two sides could still agree on a basic principles document. The two sides agreed that there should be a withdrawal of Armenian forces from the occupied territories and that eventually this withdrawal should be from seven occupied territories. The sides also agreed that there should be non-use of force by any sides, she said.
"The two sides seem to have agreed on above mentioned. I would hope is that the sides could sign a document that at least puts into writing these significant issues the parties agreed upon," Freizer said.
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