“The weakness of the Armenian position is that it wants to consider this or that situation out of general context. We may just as well look at other things that are favorable to us. Will Armenians have any claims? So will Azerbaijan, we will demand compensation from them, and so on,” the expert said.
Speaking about how it would affect the peace process, the expert said he did not think that the issue would affect the peace process in any way.
“The peace treaty will be a framework document. A framework agreement is more of a declarative agreement that does not have many clauses, the main thing here is the formation of the border. For example, the 1975 map. Delimitation and demarcation will be carried out on the basis of the 1975 map, but the border itself will be approved upon completion of delimitation and demarcation,” he added.
According to Zulfugarov, the same goes for calls to normalize communications: all communications cannot be ready by the time of signing.
“For example, the peace document may deal with the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, including the issue of compensation. The amount of this compensation can be determined in court on the basis of the claims made. This is a framework agreement and does not address the issues brought forth by lawsuits. It defines the principles for the continuation of the post-conflict process, which will bring us to the level of relations. People think that if a peace treaty is signed, all issues will be resolved, but this is not the case,” the ex-minister emphasized.
The issue of Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity is a separate topic. The expert mentioned Nikol Pashinyan recognizing the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in Prague.
“On the other hand, his recognition is worthless because, according to their legislation, he has no right to say so. Moreover, he is the prime minister of a country whose constitution states that he is also the prime minister of ‘Nagorno-Karabakh.’ So, if someone else becomes prime minister there tomorrow, they may play a different game. Armenia still has to hold a referendum, clean up its constitution and then sign a peace deal with us. So, all this talk about a peace treaty now is nothing. But Armenians have no intention to hold a referendum,” the analyst stressed.
Speaking about the flag that President Ilham Aliyev hoisted in Khankendi, Zulfugarov said that this is the end of the history of the Karabakh conflict.
“The President of Azerbaijan has hoisted the flag of Azerbaijan in Khankendi. There are no international processes that could change anything here. First of all, this region territorially belongs to Azerbaijan. In 1992, we ourselves applied for mediation, this mediation was formed in such a way that the political status of ‘Nagorno-Karabakh’ was to be determined. This process continued until the war of 2020, and the war changed the situation. Azerbaijan refused mediation, saying that the situation had de facto changed and that Azerbaijan had restored its territorial integrity on its own. We are neither seeking mediation nor revision of this situation,” Zulfugarov summed up.
Nijat Hajiyev
Translated from Minval.az
