Baku, Azerbaijan, Mar. 2
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
Diplomatic efforts alone are not enough to solve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Alexander Karavayev, leading expert of the North-South Political Science Center, told Trend.
The expert said that complex measures are needed in order to force Armenia to free the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
“The ‘carrot and stick’ approach is needed here,” he said. “What Azerbaijan demonstrated in April last year shows that the use of force regarding Armenia gives a certain effect.”
On the night of April 2, 2016, all the frontier positions of Azerbaijan were subjected to heavy fire from the Armenian side, which used large-caliber weapons, mortars and grenade launchers. The armed clashes resulted in deaths and injuries among the Azerbaijani population. Azerbaijan responded with a counter-attack, which led to liberation of several strategic heights and settlements.
Military operations were stopped on the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian armies on Apr. 5 at 12:00 (UTC/GMT + 4 hours) with the consent of the sides, Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry had said. Ignoring the agreement, the Armenian side again started violating the ceasefire.
Karavayev noted that it is clear that the OSCE Minsk Group dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s settlement has completely exhausted itself.
At the same time, Karavayev said that it is also impossible to rely on the use of force alone in this conflict, because it means a full-scale war.
A combination of the use of force and confidence-building measures might make the process of the conflict’s settlement move, the expert said, adding that the confidence-building measures may be formed at the Armenia-Azerbaijan Platform for Peace created in Azerbaijan in 2016.
The expert added that the escalation of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which took place in the days of the anniversary of the Khojaly tragedy, had a smaller scale than that of April last year.
However, the clashes on the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops may continue with some regularity, he said.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry has earlier said the Armenian army attempted to infiltrate through the Azerbaijani positions along the line of contact on the night from Feb. 24 to Feb. 25. The Armenian side attempted to seize favorable positions on the Khojavand-Fuzuli part of the frontline, said the ministry, adding that heavy battles took place between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
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