The meeting of the Azerbaijani and Karabakh Armenian representatives at the Russian peacekeeping base today as published by various media
Representatives of Azerbaijan and the defacto authorities representing local ethnic Armenians today met under the auspices of the Russian peacekeeping force at its headquarters in Khojali. Such meetings are not new but there are a few arguably important differences.
The first and most signifant one is that an Azerbaijani MP, Ramin Mammadov, was not only present but has now been identified as the person responsible to represent Azerbaijan in talks with the Karabakh Armenians.
Seems he was also born in Karabakh, incidentally. A second is that for the first time ever from meetings that have been held at the Russian peacekeeping base is that there was a photograph.
Thus, Armenian media could identify defacto Karabakh National Security Secretary Samvel Shahramanyan as also present.
Another significance is that this follows the dismissal of Russian-Armenian businessman Ruben Vardanyan as defacto Karabakh State Minister. In Munich, Azerbaijani President had again signalled that Baku would engage in such talks but not with Vardanyan.
Though we do not as yet know if Shahramyan has been also been named as the representative in such talks, it is worth noting that one of his predecessors, Vitali Balasanyan, had also been involved in such meetings, though not as publicly, until his dismissal in early January.
Talk of appointing specific representatives from both sides were also apparently discussed at the 27 September meeting between Armenian National Secretary Secretary Armen Grigoryan and Azerbaijan Presidential Advisor Hikmet Hajiyev in Washington D.C. last year.
The Government of Azerbaijan will nominate a representative to work with a similar representative designated by the Armenian ethnic community in Nagorno-Karabakh to conduct discussions on the rights and securities for the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh. Representatives will provide to the international community on their discussions. The parties will continue to review the role of an international observer, without prejudice to Azerbaijan’s sovereignty, to provide confidence regarding protections for minority groups in Nagorno-Karabakh.
That Baku and Stepanakert must engage in direct communication was also something I have long since called for to happen for over two years now and also raised at a meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijan civil society actors in Tbilisi in January 2021.
Anyway, this much for now as I plan to write either a comprehensive article instead, but as an update, just to say that representatives of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, State Service for Real Estate Affairs under the Ministry of Economy, the [natural resources] monitoring group, and AzerGold were also present.
These bodies being present highlight how the continuing stand-off on the Lachin Corridor were clearly discussed. Another related issue is the inevitable distinction between two negotiation tracks now. That is, Armenia-Azerbaijan and Azerbaijan-Karabakh, something else immediately after the November 2020 ceasefire statement that I forecast would happen.
There’s still a difficult path to tread, but the more open nature of the meeting is something to be welcomed. The only exception to less exposed meetings before has been when Karabakh Armenian and Azerbaijani water specialists met at the Sarsang Reservoir. However, that was not of such an official nature as today even if video and photos were also released.
As for the fact it was held through Russian mediation and facilitation, it so far does not appear to have shake the European Union at least. “Encouraging news from Khojaly today regarding contacts between Baku representatives and Karabakh Armenians,” EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Toivo Klaar, has already tweeted about today’s meeting.
March 2, 2023 Update: My article for the Caspian Post is now available here.
