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By Sara Rajabova

A Turkish expert believes that next year Europe will pay more attention to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and Armenia will face increasing pressure.

Mehmet Fatih Oztarsu, a vice-president of the analytical center of the Turkish Strategic Outlook and an expert on the South Caucasus region, made the remark when commenting on a draft resolution from PACE calling for an end to the occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

Oztarsu told Trend that the content of the document shows that Europe wants to increase its influence in the region, especially after the war in Georgia in 2008.

On November 4, PACE’s political affairs committee approved a draft resolution for “the withdrawal of Armenian armed forces and other irregular armed forces from Nagorno-Karabakh and the other occupied territories of Azerbaijan, and the establishment of full sovereignty of Azerbaijan in these territories," within the framework of the OSCE Minsk process.

The draft resolution was based on a report, entitled “Escalation of violence in Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” by PACE rapporteur Robert Walter.

“Europe and the U.S. are very worried about the hegemony of Russia extending to Syria. Therefore, the U.S. is trying to get closer to Central Asia, the Caucasus and Eastern Europe. This means that Armenia will increasingly be reminded that it violates international law over the Karabakh issue,” Oztarsu believes.

Oztarsu also noted that the concept of resolution is of a legal nature, which should be taken very seriously.

“Whether Armenia will take this challenge by Europe is not yet known, but it is exact that the West’s initiative may lead to a change in the situation with the occupation of seven surrounding regions of Nagorno-Karabakh,” Oztarsu said.

Armenia captured Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions from Azerbaijan in a war that followed the Soviet breakup in 1991. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly 1 million were displaced as a result of the war.

Large-scale hostilities ended with a Russia-brokered ceasefire in 1994, but Armenia continued the occupation in defiance of four UN Security Council resolutions calling for immediate and unconditional withdrawal.

Peace talks mediated by Russia, France and the U.S. have so far produced no results.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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