Azernews.Az

Political resources were exhausted with efforts to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, director of the Centre for Political Innovation and Technologies, political analyst Mubariz Ahmadoglu said at a press conference Friday.

Despite great efforts having been made, the meeting of the Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents in Kazan did not offer any significant results. An agreement was not signed because the organisers of the meeting had made changes to the text of the agreed document, he said.

"The collapse of the OSCE Minsk Group's mediation began," he said. "The thesis 'Status quo must be immediately changed', 'Changing the status quo is dangerous for the region' became a slogan. Attempts to arrange a meeting and a dialogue of Azerbaijani and Armenian communities of Nagorno-Karabakh remain fruitless."

He said that the Armenians do not agree with this dialogue and generally do not accept the division of the Nagorno-Karabakh communities into Armenian and Azerbaijani.

"Armenian public opinion on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is more and more inclined towards the direction of surrender," he said. "There is a subconscious feeling in society that one failed to 'privatise' Nagorno-Karabakh."

He also stressed the growth of dissent in respect for the area's 'leadership'.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 per cent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno- Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France and the U.S. are currently holding peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.

This story is published by AzerNEWS Weekly under a project funded by the Foundation for State Assistance to the Development of the Media under the President of the Azerbaijan Republic.