QUESTION: How would you comment on a statement by Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister where he, specifically, said that “Azerbaijan will seriously re-consider the feasibility of its further participation in Nagorno Karabagh conflict settlement negotiations unless the Minsk Group co-chairs expresses its unambiguous protest against actions of the Armenian party”, referring to the elections and military exercises underway in Nagorno Karabagh.

ANSWER: In relation to this last statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, I would like to note that turning the issue of his country’s participation in the negotiations process into a manipulative show and using it to exert pressure on the international community and the Minsk Group in particular, is simply unacceptable and compromises the seriousness of Azerbaijan’s position with regard to attaining peace in the region.

What if Armenia also started posing conditions for its further participation in the negotiations process, for example, by pressing the mediators into welcoming the elections in Nagorno Karabagh?

After all, it is not only Armenia and Nagorno Karabagh that should be interested in peace. Azerbaijan should also be an interested party. Otherwise, negotiations with a party that considers them as a means of blackmail and manipulation rather than a viable opportunity to attain peace, are doomed to failure.