By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Azemedia New Logo
  • Donation
  • Who we are
  • Home
  • Opinion
  • News
    • Economy
    • Energy
    • Ecology
  • Culture
  • Diaspora
  • Interview
  • Science
  • Logistics-Transport
  • Gender
  • History
  • Defense
  • Karabakh
Aze.Media
Aa
Search
  • News
  • Economy
  • Ecology
  • Energy
  • Opinion
  • Culture
  • Gender
  • Interview
  • Science
  • Logistics-Transport
  • History
  • Defense
  • Karabakh
  • Diaspora
  • Who we are
Follow US
© 2021 Aze.Media – Daily Digest
Aze.Media > Opinion > A recipe for more conflict: Yerevan rejects corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan; Baku insists on it
Opinion

A recipe for more conflict: Yerevan rejects corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan; Baku insists on it

The flurry of statements emanating from Yerevan and Baku in recent days shows that Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders have very different understandings of what is contained in the November and January declarations some have described as peace agreements and that the danger of renewed military conflict has not passed.

AzeMedia
By AzeMedia Published June 2, 2021 6 Min Read
Https Specials Images.forbesimg.com Imageserve 5f92b1f991f450cb90a35e26 0x0

Armenian Vice President Mger Grigoryan and acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stressed that there is no agreement for any corridor between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan across Armenian territory. Both said that neither declaration calls for creating any corridors when transportation links are restored (ng.ru/cis/2021-05-31/1_8161_armenia.html).

But Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev spoke about “the inevitability” of such a corridor, the promise of which was and remains a key reason why Baku agreed to a Russian-mediated ceasefire at a time when Azerbaijani forces were on the brink of a complete victory over Armenian ones in Qarabagh.

On the one hand, this difference in opinion is a difference about the meaning of the reopening of the transportation links for the two sides, with Armenia viewing them as limited to transport and guarded by Russian peacekeepers and Azerbaijan as seeing them as a step toward something broader and deeper and under Azerbaijani control.

But on the other hand, it is only one of the ways in which the two sides are still far apart, differences that make further progress problematic on all issues as they are invariably interconnected and the role of outside players including Russia, Iran, France and the United State more fraught with difficulties as well.

That can be seen in discussions following the dispute beginning two weeks ago over whether Azerbaijani forces had crossed into Syunik/Zengezur or not, a conflict that arose because the borders between the two countries have never been delimited and Soviet-era maps are in conflict.

Armenia appealed for Russian help to force the withdrawal of Azerbaijani forces and to get a demarcation process started in that limited portion of the international border between the two countries. And Iran said that any change in the borders that deprived Iran of direct contact with Armenia would be the crossing of “a red line” as far as Tehran was concerned.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called his Azerbaijani counterpart and secured an agreement that this dispute and others would be “resolved exclusively by political and diplomatic methods,” which Moscow later specified to mean the formation of a tripartite commission with Russia as mediator to address the border question in Syunik/Zengezur.

But in the days that followed, Armenia and Azerbaijan traded words about the violation of the border by forces of the other, leading Pashinyan to call for the “synchronous” withdrawal of forces from the borders and the insertion of “international observers from Russia or the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (the US and France).”

The Armenian prime minister subsequently clarified that it would be possible to have both Russian peacekeepers and observers from other countries of the Minsk Group after we begin the process of demarcating and delimiting the border.” But commentators suggested Yerevan only wants Russians there as peacekeepers at least in the immediate future.

Baku in contrast accepts the idea of a tripartite commission on the border, although it has indicated it wants to discuss the entire border rather than just the Syunik/Zengezur portion, a problem for Yerevan given its views on Qarabagh, because it wants to open the transportation corridor to Nakhichevan as quickly as possible.

And the Azerbaijani side continues to talk about this reopening of the transportation links as the opening of “a corridor,” something with much more far-reaching implications and a prospect Moscow, Yerevan, and Tehran oppose. In short, there is every reason to be concerned that there are likely to be more clashes rather than fewer in the coming weeks. 

Paul Goble

Window on Eurasia

You Might Also Like

War crimes and the pursuit of justice in Azerbaijan and Ukraine

OTS on track to become EU equivalent

What is the reason for tensions in US-Azerbaijan relations?

Pro-Armenian lobbyists enjoy la dolce vita while Armenia is looking for new “backers”

Focus on integration: SPECA platform with Turkic accent

AzeMedia June 2, 2021

New articles

Az Ukr Flag
War crimes and the pursuit of justice in Azerbaijan and Ukraine
Opinion December 2, 2023
Mycollages
Azerbaijani, Armenian commission meets to find solution to undemarcated border
News December 2, 2023
Tofig
“Armenia is paying the bill for using Russia’s resources for 30 years to carry out the occupation of our territory”
Interview December 1, 2023
Susa Shusha Fortress Photo © Retan Shutterstock 2161373229 1024x683
International scientific conference to be held in Shusha
Science December 1, 2023
47f59e0d Muweyz2h11bza0zov00ml
Jeyhun Bayramov: Armenia and so-called regime bear responsibility for Armenian residents leaving Azerbaijani territories
News December 1, 2023
231ed913 Fd38 38d0 A0e3 F089cb0e1b96 850
Azerbaijani president arrives at World Climate Action Summit
News December 1, 2023
F99bd5d5 Fdd5 320f 846f 6ebe7e64f49c 850
Azerbaijani FM meets with OSCE Secretary General
News December 1, 2023
Ots
OTS on track to become EU equivalent
Opinion November 30, 2023
Image 967934 11187414
Masdar’s 308MWp solar PV project in Azerbaijan begins operation
Energy November 30, 2023
Gaz3 2
Azerbaijan has sent more than 30 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe
Energy November 30, 2023

You Might Also Like

Az Ukr Flag

War crimes and the pursuit of justice in Azerbaijan and Ukraine

December 2, 2023 12 Min Read
Ots

OTS on track to become EU equivalent

November 30, 2023 14 Min Read
1681296348957

What is the reason for tensions in US-Azerbaijan relations?

November 29, 2023 11 Min Read
Bildschirmfoto 2023 11 29 Um 13.34.33

Pro-Armenian lobbyists enjoy la dolce vita while Armenia is looking for new “backers”

November 29, 2023 7 Min Read
17008201233937550695 1200x630

Focus on integration: SPECA platform with Turkic accent

November 26, 2023 14 Min Read
841b3b6652208e13ad7f66eeee526a14

London’s friendly attitude should serve as example for Paris and Washington

November 23, 2023 8 Min Read
6250447cab425d2e1c9fabfa Trilateral Meeting Pashinyan Michel Aliyev

Bridging the divide: The Armenia-Azerbaijan struggle for equitable peace

November 22, 2023 37 Min Read
1700662592722

Iraq-Azerbaijan ties will lead to connection with Gulf, Mideast nations

November 22, 2023 15 Min Read

Useful links

426082d1 A9e4 4ac5 95d4 4e84024eb314 Pojkz91103g6zqfh8kiacu662b2tn9znit7ssu9ekg
Ab65ed96 2f4a 4220 91ac F70a6daaf659 Pojkz67iflcc0wjkp1aencvsa5gq06ogif9cd0dl34
96e40a2b 5fed 4332 83c6 60e4a89fd4d0 Pojkz836t9ewo4gue23nscepgx7gfkvx6okbbkasqo
759bde00 A375 4fa1 Bedc F8e9580ceeca Pq8mvb9kwubqf6bcadpkq5mz16nayr162k3j2084cg
aze-media-logo-ag1

Aze.Media offers an independent and strategic insight on socio-cultural, political and economic life in Azerbaijan.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookies Policy

Email: editor@aze.media

© 2023 Aze.Media – Daily Digest

Removed from reading list

Undo
aze-media-logo1 aze-media-logo-ag1
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Lost your password?