Karabakh peace process gains new pace
By Laman Ismayilova
There is hope for the long-lasting Nagorno-Karabakh conflict to reach a much anticipated settlement as peace process over the problems is gaining new pace.
Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the State Duma committee on CIS affairs, Eurasian integration and relations with compatriots, believes that the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can move from the dead point within a year.
"We hope that in the foreseeable future, perhaps within the next year, some kind of significant actions will be prepared to move down off the ground the bleeding dossier of the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process,” he said at a press conference in Moscow.
This optimistic mood followed the statement of Spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, who told journalists in Yerevan on Monday that Russia has made huge efforts to resolve the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh.
"Exactly for this purpose Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov holds bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the CSTO," she stressed, adding that great efforts are made to ensure that the settlement has led to success.
On Monday, the meeting of CSTO Foreign Ministers took place in Yerevan.
Peace process to achieve a decisive solution to the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Nagorno-Karabakh, which lasted for over two decades, has intensified after the recent scaly battles in April.
Long-simmering tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan flared again on April 2 when the Armenian side began to shell the Azerbaijani positions and settlements along the frontline. To protect civilian population, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces launched counter attacks and repulsed the enemy forces back. On April 5, the two sides agreed on a ceasefire.
Baku has repeatedly called on Armenia to abstain from violence, while Yerevan continued ignoring all the appeals.
Lately, the world leaders have accelerated their efforts for peaceful end for the conflict, and achieved to organize a presidential meeting between Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan and Serzh Sarksyan, of Armenia.
The problem was on focus of talks between President Aliyev and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who mulled the recent work over the settlement of the conflict, putting a particular accent on the dynamics that the recent talks in Vienna and St.-Petersburg generated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin also discussed Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with his French counterpart recently.
Advising President Francois Hollande on the results of the trilateral meeting with the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia Putin said the sides agreed to continue active joint work within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group in this important sphere.
Furthermore, OSCE chairman-in-office, German Foreign Secretary Frank-Walter Steinmeier supported the initiative of holding continuous meetings between the Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno Karabakh.
The international community is trying to contribute to the solution of conflict between the two countries, whilst the peace negotiations have not reached any successful result.
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts - 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory - are under occupation of Armenian armed forces.
In May 1994, the parties reached a cease-fire under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group and co-chairs Russia, France and the US that are currently holding peace negotiations regarding the issue.
Armenian government has not yet carried out the UN Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.
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