Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Despite the long-standing efforts of the OSCE Minsk Group, entrusted to deal with the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, no breakthrough has been reached in the negotiations yet and the peace process is stalled.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict emerged in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since a lengthy war in the early 1990s that displaced over one million Azerbaijanis, Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions.

A fragile ceasefire has been in place since 1994. However, a peace accord has never been signed and the dispute remains unresolved.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but Armenia has not followed them to this day.

Mediators from Russia, France and the U.S. -- co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group -- have been brokering peace talks over the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since the 1994 ceasefire, but their efforts have not produced any result yet.

During the nearly two-decade-long mediation efforts, the MG co-chairs have visited the region many times and held talks with officials in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and organized meetings between the presidents and foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, they couldn't make headway and failed to achieve positive changes in the settlement of the conflict.

Experts believe the upcoming visit of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs to the region doesn't promise any improvement in the conflict settlement or any changes in peace talks in the near future.

Azerbaijani political analyst, MP Rasim Musabeyov told Azernews that he doesn't expect changes in the negotiation process yet.

"The reality is that it is not possible yet to resume the negotiations," he said. "The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia meet separately with the OSCE Minsk Group, but don't meet with each other."

Last time, the co-chairs - Igor Popov of Russia, Jacques Faure of France and Ian Kelly of the United States - as well as the OSCE chairperson's personal representative Andrzej Kasprzyk met with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on March 2 and with Armenia's Edward Nalbandian on March 3 in Paris.

At the meeting, Minister Mammadyarov voiced concern over the current situation with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He emphasized the importance of withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan for advancing the peace process, restoration of peace and stability in the whole region, and noted that Armenia's non-constructive position hinders the conflict settlement.

Professor Elman Nasirov shared the views of Musabeyov, saying that although the Minsk Group is brokering the peace talks, there is no progress in the settlement of the problem. He said the latest Paris talks didn't yield concrete results on the resolution of the conflict. Besides, the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia have not had a meeting for a while either, he noted.

Last time, President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia met on January 23 in Sochi with the meditation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

In a joint statement issued following the meeting, the presidents expressed readiness to accelerate reaching agreement on basic principles. But no progress has been seen since then.

The Minsk Group co-chairs haven't presented any new proposals over the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict recently, Nasirov said, noting the need for stepping up the mediation efforts.

Peace negotiations are underway on the basis of a peace outline proposed by the Minsk Group co-chairs and dubbed the Madrid Principles, also known as Basic Principles. The document envisions a return of the territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijani control; determining the final legal status of Nagorno-Karabakh; a corridor linking Armenia to the region; and the right of all internally displaced persons to return home.

Commissioning of airport in occupied land

Musabeyov said that the Armenian claims over opening an airport in Nagorno-Karabakh have no basis, adding that the co-chairs have expressed concern over this issue, but they have no more authority in this regard.

Recently, "foreign minister" of the self-proclaimed "Nagorno Karabakh Republic" Karen Mirzoyan said that the airport in Khojaly will be opened in the near future, as soon as complete technical safety of the flights is provided.

Earlier, Armenian media reported that the airport in Khojaly is to be commissioned in the near future.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said earlier that commissioning the airport is an open violation of the Convention on International Civil Aviation, adopted on December 7, 1944 in Chicago.

The Minsk Group also voiced concerns regarding the issue of civilian flights to Nagorno-Karabakh after the meeting with the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents.

Commenting on the issue, Nasirov said that though the co-chairs voice concern, they didn't indicate the side responsible for the dispute over the commissioning the airport in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.

"Although the Armenians explain the delay in the commissioning of the airport with technical matters, it is related to political issues," Nasirov said, adding that the issue over the opening of the airport in Nagorno-Karabakh is likely to be discussed during the visit of Sargsyan to Russia on March 12.

Foreign experts share the view that this attempt runs counter to international law and poses a threat to regional security.

Former Israeli deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh termed the attempt to open the airport in Khojaly as the limit of impudence and political ignorance of the Armenian leadership. Sneh also highlighted double standards in international relations, which is the reason the UN Security Council and the world community are failing to demand an Armenian pullout from the occupied Azerbaijani lands.

The International Civil Aviation Organization and European Civil Aviation Conference support Azerbaijan's position on the issue. Document No.121 on airports of the ICAO cited the Khojaly airport as property of Azerbaijan.

International flights from the Khojaly airport, constructed in 1978, were prohibited after the occupation of territories by Armenia. The Khojaly airport, which has been registered in international organizations with the name UB13, is a facility with military purposes.