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9 July 2016

By Anakhanum Idayatova – Trend

After the April’s escalation on the contact line of the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, new attempts at settling the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict have become paramount, Theodore Karasik, analyst on the Middle East and senior advisor at Gulf State Analytics, Washington DC, told Trend July 9.

He was commenting on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s discussion on the sidelines of the NATO summit, which is taking place in Warsaw.

The two-day NATO summit kicked off in Warsaw July 8 with participation of Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev. The summit participants are discussing strengthening the stability beyond NATO borders, fighting terrorism, enhancing the defence capability and deterrence means of the Alliance. OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs James Warlick (US), Igor Popov (Russia) and Pierre Andrieu (France) are also participating in the summit.

Karasik said that in the lead up to the NATO summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin led a series of discussions between the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Currently, Putin and US President Obama are discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict’s issue as part of larger negotiations, he added.

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.

Thus regional issues are merging but there is a glimmer of some movement forward regarding the conflict’s settlement, Karasik noted.

He also mentioned importance of Azerbaijan’s cooperation with NATO in fighting terrorism.

The expert said that Baku needs to take a strong role in counterterrorism activities.