I Believe You Will: Mammadyarov and Davutoglu Discussed Karabakh Conflict

Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov hopes that his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu will take very useful initiatives in the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, reports Azerbaijani news agency Trend.

“Turkey is highly respected in the international arena, and therefore I believe that Ahmet Davutoglu will take very useful initiatives in the Karabakh settlement”, Mammadyarov said at a joint press conference following a summit of Turkic-speaking countries.

The summit was held in Bodrum town in western Turkish province of Mugla on Thursday bringing together foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Russia Vague On Missile Sale To Azerbaijan

Russian defense officials made on Monday conflicting statements about reports that Moscow plans to sell sophisticated air-defense systems to Azerbaijan that could affect the balance of forces in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Interfax news agency quoted on Monday an unnamed “high-ranking source” from the Russian Defense Ministry as calling the report “nonsense.” “Today, the supply of Russian S-300s to Azerbaijan is impossible for primarily political reasons,” he said, pointing to the unresolved Karabakh dispute.  Read more... (573 words)

Advise to Azerbaijani Defense Ministry spokesman: Don’t Aggravate The Situation With Irresponsible Military Statements

Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan’s June 20th interview to “Interfax” has brought about indignation among Azeri media, Armenian Defense Ministry reported.

“The reason is clear. Seyran Ohanyan spoke about Armenia-CSTO, Armenia-NATO and Armenia-Russia military-political and military-technical cooperation, about everything that troubles the authorities of the neighbor country. In his interview Minister Ohanyan spoke about the advantages in the field of military production Armenia enjoys as a CSTO member.

Seyran Ohanyan criticized the policy of the neighbor country targeted at disturbing the military balance in the region and arms race. He noted also that the bellicose statements of Azerbiajan pose a real threat to regional stability and peace.  Read more... (422 words)

Would Azerbaijan Give Up Oil in Exchange For Karabakh?

Despite the statements quite frequently voiced by the Azeri authorities on the possibility of resuming hostilities against Armenia, it is yet extremely premature to speak about prospects of a new war. There are no objective prerequisites in current circumstances that would indicate launch of war in the near future.

Azerbaijan is building its statehood on oil, and oil tariffs nowadays reflect quite positively on main economic indicators. In that view it is highly unlikely that Azerbaijan would go for a cardinal change of situation, especially with most indefinite outcome prospects.

What tangible loss would Azerbaijan suffer in case of resuming the war over Karabakh?

First of all it is Azerbaijan’s appeal for investors in the oil sector, in other words – the only stable base for state construction.  Read more... (723 words)

Mediators Report No Progress in Karabakh Talks After Almaty Meeting

The July 16-17 meetings between Armenia’s Edward Nalbandyan and Azerbaijan’s Elmar Mammadyarov, held in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on the margins of an OSCE ministerial meeting, had been urged by the presidents of the United States, Russia and France, who made a reference to that effect in their joint statement issued from the G8 summit late last month.

Barack Obama, Dimitry Medvedev and Nicolas Sarkozy also said the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan “need to take the next step and complete the work on the Basic Principles to enable the drafting of a peace agreement to begin.”

According to media reports, Nalbandyan and Mammadyarov began their talks in the Kazakh city late on Friday and met again the next day in the presence of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg.  Read more... (472 words)

Satus Quo In South Caucasus is Inherently Unstable And Dangerous: Peter Semneby

The South Caucasus continues to be a region characterized by volatility and instability, and the international community must remain engaged, particularly in the area of conflict resolution and the promotion of democratic reform, said European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby in an address to the OSCE Permanent Council today.

“Given the high stakes involved, there is a clear need for the international community to remain fully committed and engaged in the region,” he said.

He spoke about the EU’s efforts to resolve the conflicts and to promote the consolidation of democracy and rule of law in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia: “These efforts will only be successful through concerted efforts of the international community. The role of the OSCE is extremely important in this regard and it is the partner of choice for the EU.”  Read more... (235 words)

Armenia, Azerbaijan Trade More Accusations

Armenia and Azerbaijan have again accused each other of torpedoing the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process ahead of a new round of peace negotiations which international mediators hope will bring them closer to a settlement.

Azerbaijan’s Oil Factor in South Caucasus Geopolitics

Tony Hayward, the CEO of the world’s oil giant company British Petroleum, arrived in Azerbaijan on July 6 and the same day the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) unveiled its intention to increase gas deliveries to Russia. SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev told journalists that Baku had offered to Russia’s state-controlled natural gas monopoly Gazprom to increase supplies from 1 to 2 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2011.

Analysts discuss whether this decision has political implications or everything is connected with the huge oil spill from a ruptured BP well in the Gulf of Mexico. The thing is that BP, which suffers billions of dollars’ worth of losses because of the continuing spill of oil and cleanup has announced its intention to sell part of its assets in the world to compensate for the losses. However, by the end of his visit to Baku, the British Petroleum CEO said he was not going to sell the company’s assets in oil-rich Azerbaijan.  Read more... (1051 words)

Azerbaijan Denies New Karabakh Peace Proposals

Azerbaijan has denied Armenian claims that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev presented his Armenian and Azerbaijani counterparts with a new international plan to end the Nagorno-Karabakh at their meeting in Saint Petersburg last month.

President Serzh Sarkisian likewise spoke of “the latest version” of the proposed framework accord as he met with the visiting French, Russian and U.S. co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group on Saturday. A statement by his office said the document was “presented in the course of the Saint Petersburg negotiations between the presidents of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan.”  Read more... (527 words)