Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

The delay in the resolution of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict for over 20 years has maintained the possibility of emergence of a new and bloody war in the South Caucasus region.

The double standards and ignorance shown over the years by the international community is further aggravating the situation surrounding the conflict, encouraging parties at war to use their militaries.

The recent intensified ceasefire violations and Armenia’s provocations on the contact line of the two countries’ troops resulted in losses on both sides and have increased the urgency to settle the long-standing conflict.

This situation shatters the notion that the conflict is “frozen,” as it can turn into a devastating war at any time involving the other countries to fight alongside the conflicting parties.

However, while such a danger is abound, the international community still does not want to take the necessary and decisive steps to settle the conflict.

Russian political analyst Igor Ponomarenko, a member of the Russian Intelligence Network expert community, believes that the international community has reached a secret consensus to freeze the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

He told Trend that this tendency has turned into a kind of “sacred cow” of international diplomacy.

“This doesn’t rule out that a certain foreign player, including Russia, carefully tries to use confrontation between Azerbaijan and Armenia to reach its own geopolitical goals,” he said.

Ponomarenko noted that Moscow is interested in maintaining maximum stability in the South Caucasus, since it is absolutely not ready to have a “hot spot” here as well.

"Despite the permanently strained relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia is trying to maneuver between Baku and Yerevan, seeking to preserve the balance and by all means tries to prevent the escalation of tensions," he said.

The expert believes that the tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia can last for decades and such a situation fulfills the desires of all external players.

The precarious cease-fire between Azerbaijan and Armenia was reached after a lengthy war that displaced over a million Azerbaijanis and has been in place between the two South Caucasus countries since 1994.

Since the end of hostilities, the Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed as a result of the war and over one million Azerbaijanis are unable to return to their homes because of the invasion.

Armenia continues its occupation of Azerbaijani territories, which in turn hinders regional security and peace.

Peace talks over the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by Minsk Group co-chairs, dubbed the Madrid Principles.

However, since Armenia continues to follow a non-constructive approach, negotiations have been largely fruitless so far despite the efforts of the co-chair countries over 20 years.

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

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