Azernews.Az

BAKU - The format of the meeting planned between the Azerbaijani and Armenian foreign ministers on Saturday in Almaty has increased attention and expectations about the upcoming talks on the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict.
According to Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, besides Elmar Mammadyarov and Eduard Nalbandian, the ministerial will be attended by the top diplomats of the three countries co-chairing the OSCE Minsk Group - the foreign ministers of Russia and France, Sergei Lavrov and Bernard Kouchner, and US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg. Also in attendance will be the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, as well as the foreign ministers of the former OSCE chair Greece and of Lithuania, which will take over chairmanship in the organization next year.
The meeting between the Azerbaijani and Armenian ministers will take place on the sidelines of a two-day informal OSCE ministerial.
Ilgar Mammadov, an Azerbaijani analyst, has told AssA-Irada that the expanded format of Garabagh talks could be the result of the recent statement issued by the Russian, US and French presidents. Mammadov said there is an opportunity to reach progress in Almaty on the points articulated by Presidents Dmitry Medvedev, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy during the G8 summit in Canada.
The three leaders’ statement, issued during the summit, called on the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders to finalize the main principles of Garabagh settlement in order to begin drafting a peace accord.
The statement referred to several key principles of the peace process, including the return of the territories surrounding Nagorno Garabagh to Azerbaijani control, an interim status for Nagorno Garabagh providing guarantees of security and self-government, the determination of the future legal status of the Azerbaijani region through a legally binding expression of will and the right of refugees and IDPs to return home, as well as international guarantees of security, including peacekeeping operations.
Mammadov was not inclined to make projections on the forthcoming talks in Kazakhstan and only said that if the sides achieve progress on the principles laid out by the mediating states’ leaders, this could foster a breakthrough in peace talks.
Aydin Mirzazada, a lawmaker representing the ruling Yeni (New) Azerbaijan Party (YAP), says expanding the format of the Almaty talks should be welcomed.
"It could also be considered as an example of the Minsk Group co-chair countries’ being more interested in the conflict settlement."
Mirzazada said a positive trend has lately been seen in the negotiating process, and the fact that the latest statement of the mediating states’ presidents reflected Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories should be applauded.
At the same time, Mirzazada said he does not have great expectations from the Almaty meeting. He said both advances and lack of progress could be expected from this meeting, which is expected to discuss a time frame for the liberation of the strategic Lachin and Kalbajar regions of Azerbaijan around Nagorno Garabagh. This progress, Mirzazada said, depends more on the positions of the Minsk Group co-chair countries.
Analyst Gabil Huseynli, who represents the opposition Musavat party, believes that holding the Almaty meeting in such a format indicates the mediating states’ intention to give an impetus to Garabagh settlement talks.
"Holding the meeting in a broad format might bring about a change of principle in the course of negotiations," he said.
Huseynli also predicted that the sides involved will work to convince Armenia to accept the peace outline called the Madrid principles, saying "certain glimmers of this are discerned".
The Garabagh conflict flared up in the late 1980s due to Armenia's territorial claims. Armenia has been occupying over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory since the early 1990s. The ceasefire accord was signed in 1994, but years of peace talks have brought few tangible results. The mediating Minsk Group co-chairs initially proposed a peace outline on settling the conflict in the Spanish capital in November 2007. In Athens in November 2009, the updated version of the Madrid Document was submitted to the sides. Azerbaijan stated that it accepts the renewed Madrid principles early this year, while the Armenian stance remains unclear.*