Azernews.Az

An International Crisis Group official has said no progress is expected in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the next two years due to elections to be held in Azerbaijan and Armenia and in the mediating countries.

"Elections will be held in the United States, Russia and France -- co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group [brokering the peace process]. Afterwards, Azerbaijan and Armenia will hold elections," Crisis Group’s Europe Program Director Sabine Freizer said on a visit to Baku Friday. She added that the experience shows that peace talks subside ahead of elections.

Freizer said further that the co-chairs and the entire world community were binding great hopes with the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents' meeting held in late June in Kazan, Russia. "It is very unfortunate that the meeting was fruitless," she said.

According to Freizer, even if top-level meetings are not held between Azerbaijan and Armenia, it is necessary to hold meetings between their civil society representatives.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war that ended with the signing of a fragile cease-fire in 1994. About 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory, including the Nagorno Karabakh region, has been occupied by Armenian armed forces since then. Numerous rounds of OSCE-brokered negotiations have been fruitless so far.

The ICG official noted that Turkey’s possible contribution to Karabakh settlement would be difficult.

"If Turkey wants to make a specific contribution to the conflict resolution, it should definitely mend its relations with Armenia," Freizer said.

Turkey and Armenia have been at odds for decades due to Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on 1915 "genocide" in the Ottoman Empire.