Azernews.Az

BAKU – An arms race, escalating front-line clashes, vitriolic war rhetoric and a virtual breakdown in peace talks are increasing the chance Armenia and Azerbaijan will go back to war over Nagorno-Karabakh, the International Crisis Group has warned, saying preventing a resumption of hostilities was urgent.

The Brussels-based conflict resolution group said in a report released Tuesday that increased military capabilities on both sides would make a new armed conflict in the South Caucasus region "far more deadly than the 1992-1994 one that ended with a shaky truce", but neither side "would be likely to win easily or quickly".

The report, titled "Armenia and Azerbaijan: Preventing War", said there has been significant deterioration over the past year. Neither government is planning an all-out offensive in the near term, but skirmishes that already kill 30 people a year could easily spiral out of control.

"It is unclear if the leaders in Yerevan and Baku thoroughly calculate the potential consequences of a new round of tit-for-tat attacks. Ambiguity and lack of transparency about operations along the line of contact, arms deals and other military expenditures and even the state of the peace talks all contribute to a precarious situation. Monitoring mechanisms should be strengthened and confidence-building steps implemented to decrease the chance of an accidental war," the think tank said.

ICG said Azerbaijan’s armed forces are estimated at nearly 95,000, Armenia’s and the rebel Nagorno-Karabakh region’s at around 70,000. It said the two sides’ arsenals are increasingly deadly, sophisticated and capable of sustaining a protracted war. Both can hit large population centres, critical infrastructure and communications.

It also said weapons purchases, belligerent rhetoric and offensive posturing along the front lines could be signs of Azerbaijan’s preparation to use force before the country’s oil revenues are projected to decline after 2014.

ICG said more has to be done to change a status quo that is "deeply damaging" to Azerbaijan; 586,000 Azeris are internally displaced (IDPs) from Nagorno-Karabakh and adjacent areas, and some 16 percent of the country’s territory is occupied.

"Otherwise, Azerbaijan public opinion and leadership will feel justified to use the military assets Baku has been accumulating at an increased rate: the already substantial defense budget is slated to rise by some 45 percent between 2010 and 2011, to $3.1 billion out of a total $15.9 billion state budget.

Armenia is also aware that time is running out and of the risk of a nationalist gamble – and may be tempted to try a pre-emptive strike, the report said.

It said 2010 saw little progress in the OSCE Minsk Group-mediated talks. Both capitals argue they have offered the maximum concessions. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev publicly stated that he largely accepted the basic principles for resolving the conflict as elaborated in February 2010, while Armenia’s Serzh Sargsyan remained noncommittal. The Azerbaijani leadership has begun to warn that diplomacy has been in vain and threaten that it may withdraw from negotiations if Yerevan continues "simulating talks".

The report said that if hostilities flare up anew, regional alliances could pull in Russia, Turkey and Iran. Vital oil and gas pipelines near the front lines would be threatened, as would the cooperation between Russia and Turkey that is central to regional stability.

The report said further that conflict prevention would be best ensured by signature of the basic principles agreement, first outlined by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2005 and discussed since then between Presidents Aliyev and Sargsyan with the help of the U.S., Russia and France Minsk Group co-chairs. At the OSCE summit in Astana in December 2010, the two presidents reaffirmed their commitment to find a final settlement based on international law, including six points that have generally been accepted as part of the basic principles, but they did not sign the long-awaited agreement. Further deterioration in the security environment is likely to make agreement on the basic principles more difficult, the report warned.

ICG said President Sargsyan "has little domestic room for manoeuvre".

"Most Armenians feel the risks of changing the status quo outweigh the benefits. They say they would have to withdraw without a real guarantee of security, in return for a vaguely-defined ‘interim status’ for Nagorno-Karabakh that would include a promise of a vote on final status but no indication of when it would occur and whether it could lead to ‘independence’. Armenians initially called the seven districts they occupy around Nagorno-Karabakh a ‘security zone’, but a growing number now regularly refer to them as the ‘liberated territories" or ‘historic Armenian lands’ that should never be returned to Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis insist that any peace settlement must preserve their country’s territorial integrity and guarantee IDPs the right of return, including to Nagorno-Karabakh, while Armenians seek the right to full self-determination for the (Armenian) population of Nagorno-Karabakh, including the possibility of independence."

Sabine Freizer, the ICG Europe Program Director, says the lack of progress in peace talks increases the likelihood of a sudden outbreak of war in the coming years. "Therefore, Russia, the U.S., Turkey and the European Union should remain focused on preventing the developments unfolding under this scenario."

ICG made a