Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been lingering for many years, remaining a source of instability and hindering the thorough development of the South Caucasus region.

In a modern world swallowed by conflicts and wars, problems that have erupted as a result of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are often disregarded by the international community.

Double standards, the turning of a blind eye by some international organizations, and ignorance of the problems of refugees and internally displaced people who underwent intolerable suffering and pain as a result of Armenian aggression, are some of the reasons for the prolongation of the conflict’s settlement.

“A solution must be found in order to terminate the Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories,” said Andre Widmer, a journalist covering events in the former Soviet republics for many years and author of the book ‘Forgotten Conflict,’ dedicated to the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

In his interview with Vestnik Kavkaza news portal, Widmer called on the international community to take responsibility for the resolution of the conflict.

“Yes, this conflict is forgotten. Moreover, forgotten and relegated to second place for many years. Such issues as Islamic State, refugees in the Mediterranean and in Europe, and the war in eastern Ukraine are on the European agenda today. The topic of Nagorno-Karabakh is not often mentioned in the media. It's unfair to the refugees in Armenia and Azerbaijan, as they have the right to live in their own homeland. The international community must take responsibility for resolving the conflict, as it is obvious that Armenia and Azerbaijan won’t be able to do this. If it is necessary, they should apply pressure,” Widmer said.

For over two decades, Azerbaijan and Armenia have been locked in conflict that emerged over Armenia's territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks over the long-standing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are underway under the framework of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs dubbed the Madrid Principles.

However, as Armenia continues to follow non-constructive position in the talks, the negotiations have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.

Moreover, the international mediators often came under the harsh criticism by some experts, as well as officials from the conflicting parties for the inefficiency of their activity.

Widmer said the position of the OSCE is problematic because its reports seldom contain information about those who were responsible for shelling.

“I think that the position of the OSCE, as well as in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, is of non-initiative. I cannot know what happens behind the scenes. However, it isn’t a good sign that military actions are continuing,” he underlined.

Despite the ceasefire agreement, the Armenian armed forces frequently violate the ceasefire regime on the contact line of Armenian-Azerbaijani troops, raising risks for renewing military actions.

They also resort to sabotage and provocations on the contact line of troops attempting to cross the Azerbaijani positions and shelling the civilian settlements along the frontline.

Thus, by aggravating tensions on the frontline, the Armenian side attempts to maintain the status quo, which is considered unacceptable by Azerbaijan, as well as the international community, and hampers a peaceful resolution to the long-lasting conflict.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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