Radar Armenia‘s interlocutor is Shahan Gantaharyan, an international scholar.
– Aliyev became president of Azerbaijan again in extraordinary elections. What developments can happen in regulating Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, and what significance will the results of the polls give them?
– There will not be any breakthrough in the negotiations. Baku’s demands are many and require unilateral concessions. The evaluation of the elections is politicized. Moscow will welcome it, and the collective West, nominating the return to the negotiations as a mediator or guarantor, will not voice strong criticisms.
– The Russian side declares that Russia’s role in the Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement has no alternative. Galuzin claims that the Russian side has exclusive materials that are necessary for the demarcation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border. What does he mean by the maps kept in the Russian Armed Forces headquarters?
– The maps need to be more precise about what borders they refer to. In this case, the problem is mostly taking over the leadership of the mediation of negotiation processes. It is a complex and long-term process; in that sense, it will appear at the points of conflict in different states.
– Can only the fact of maps be the reason for Russia to be the only mediator in the settlement of relations?
– I don’t think that only the map is the mediating factor of the process. The process of differentiation has gone beyond the points of the peace agreement. And Brussels returned to negotiations, for which Charles Michel welcomed the elections held in Azerbaijan. Baku has agreed to the mediation of Brussels after recent delays, dodges, and outright rejection.
– Armenia announced that, as a new state party to the Rome Statute, it will be an active court member, expressing its belief that the Rome Statute, among other mechanisms, has real potential to prevent further escalation and atrocities. The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan responded to this statement by saying that Armenia’s accession to the Rome Statute was an attempt to use these institutions for disinformation and misinterpretation of international law. With such rhetoric, how will the parties proceed with the peace agenda, and how will the Rome Statute benefit Armenia?
– Western countries welcomed Armenia’s accession to the Rome Statute. The motives are different, of course. For Azerbaijan, this can be perceived as a tool to be used against it at any moment. It will happen when the interests of Azerbaijan and Brussels collide sharply. The Rome Statute is a weapon to bring Brussels into negotiations. Yerevan should use the statute at the appropriate time. And the right moment is the moment of the Baku-Brussels conflict of interests.
