Upcoming Talks on Karabagh Peace Process

President Serge Sarkisian is tentatively scheduled to meet with his counterpart, Ilham Aliyev next week on the sidelines of a summit of former Soviet republics to take place in Chisinau, Moldova. The OSCE Minsk Group met in Yerevan yesterday to form a game plan for the talks it seems, and they’re about to visit Karabagh. It will be US co-chairman Robert Bradtke’s first visit to the region unless I’m mistaken.

According to RFE/RL, the following is on the agenda for the next round of discussions, according to official sources:

Speaking at a news conference in Ankara on Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said that Yerevan and Baku are as close to cutting a peace deal as never before. Davutoglu claimed that a team of OSCE experts is now visiting the Armenian-controlled Lachin district to delineate an internationally recognized land corridor that would link Karabakh to Armenia proper in the event of a peaceful settlement. He said they plan to complete the “technical work” in time for the Aliyev-Sarkisian meeting.

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Official Baku reiterated on Thursday that it is ready to guarantee unfettered communication between Armenia and Karabakh but wants the Lachin corridor to remain an internationally recognized part of Azerbaijan. “We can not accept unilateral use of Azerbaijan’s territory by Armenia,” the APA news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Araz Azimov as saying. “The Lachin corridor will remain Azerbaijani territory even if it is given to Armenia for use.”

Citing unnamed diplomatic sources, Turkey’s “Hurriyet Daily News” newspaper reported on Thursday that Aliyev and Sarkisian have already made progress in determining “the width and status of the Lachin corridor.” “The deadlock is over the status of Nagorno-Karabakh, but hopes are running high for a final settlement,” it said.

The paper also said Ankara has deliberately made sure that its agreements with Yerevan on the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations are signed after the planned Armenian-Azerbaijani summit. It said the Turkish side feared that Sarkisian would otherwise sit down with Aliyev “in a more advantageous position.”

This is depressing news, no matter whether or not it is indeed true. I was always hoping that Karabagh would be annexed to Armenia along with the Lachin and Kelbajar districts in a final peace settlement, but this seems to be wishful, or rather naive, thinking. The peace proposals that have been laid on the table were always highly unfavorable for the Armenian side, and this new information, assuming it is indeed true, is very disturbing.

I don’t know what else to write about this process. I have written extensively about it on my other blog, Notes From Hairenik where I have expressed my thoughts and opinions. All I can say at this point is that I hope nothing is written in stone in Moldova.